


The CDs Boy

by imfacts



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 16-Year-Old Harry, M/M, Mental Health Issues, One Shot, Translation, idk - Freeform, ignore these
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:43:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7800520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imfacts/pseuds/imfacts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry felt unable to go out and socialize because of the anxiety he felt around people that weren't his mom. </p><p> </p><p>Louis felt curious about the curly haired boy that went to MusicWorld every single Saturday and asked for him each time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [El Chico de los CDs](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/222358) by HeHasBlueEyes. 



> This work was originally in spanish, time ago I asked the writer if I could translate her story for more people to enjoy it. I decided to divide the work in parts since it's really long and I'm still translating it. Please do not re-upload my work. All credits go to the writer of this story. Also! I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes I could have, let me know if you see something out of place. By the way, this story will have two different endings, if you are triggered by the character death, in the last part of the story I will add a comment at some point so you can skip the death and go for the alternative ending!

"Harry, love, you need to get up. It's late"

The feminine voice from his mother was heard coming into the boy's room, opening the curtains along with the windows. The boy groaned and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Harry, please"

The boy ignored her, making his mother sigh and kiss his forehead through the blanket. It was the mid-nineties, the streets in England were covered in fog during the Autumn.

Anne was in the kitchen making breakfast for her son. Harry was a special boy, he was diagnosed since he was younger with a decease of growth not specified. It's some sort of decease that affects the ability to socialize correctly with people. It can be from not being able to speak with other people to not being able to socialize. Everything in his head was fine, he didn't have any other problem, he wasn't a genius nor stupid, his brain was normal. The closest person to him was his mother, she was the only person he'd speak to. Any other person who would be near him would make him nervous. He had a panic attack in class when he was in middle school, his classmates and teachers were worried because they didn't know what was happening, that was until his mom got there and decided it would be better if he studied at home with a person he trusted and not around people that would make him uncomfortable. No specialist could tell if he'd stop being like that at some point of his life but she never lost hope.

She heard footsteps from the boy walking down the stairs and turned around hiding something behind her back. The teenager of only sixteen years old walked in the kitchen wearing his stripped pajamas, with messy hair and yawning slightly.

"Hey love, how did you sleep?" She asked sweetly while she was placing the breakfast on the table.

The boy simply shrugged without being rude and he took a seat.

"Eat before it gets cold"

It was Thursday. Harry had classes in the living room from Monday to Thursday with a woman really nice called Marianne. She had been Harry's teacher for years, she was now used to his manners and he could trust her. Friday he had an appointment with his psychologist, he didn't spend as much time with her as he did with Marianne, they never got really close, so they didn't talk a lot. Saturday was his free day, he could sleep all day if he wanted to, or just spend the day however he wanted. Sunday was the day Harry disliked the most, his family gathered at his grandparents house and had a dinner, all his family were there, uncles, aunts, cousins. Harry didn't like that many people tried to interact with him.

On Thursday he'd have Maths class, he hated it, he wasn't bad at it but it wasn't a class he enjoyed; his mom knew that, so she'd always try to cheer him up by making his favorite food or giving him a present.

"Harry", she said to get the boy's attention, who stopped eating and looked up at her. "I got something for you" Harry's stare was inexpressive, like it would always be. His mom pulled out from her back a gift, a cd he wanted. "It's the one you wanted, isn't it?" He nodded, looking at every detail of the cd, "don't you have something to say?"

Harry looked back at her and simply mumbled a 'Thank you' and smiled softly, since he never talked, his mother was more than happy to hear him speak at least one word.

"Okay, I'm going to the groceries shop. If you're good during the class, I'll cook something for you" she winked and Harry nodded, keeping the smile on his face as he watched her leave.

Friday night had come and he had to lay on that couch for an hour answering to whatever his psychologist would ask him. It didn't really bother him, he knew she was making an effort to get information from him without asking too many stuff.

She would ask him stuff and he'd answer most of the time with gestures like shaking his head, nodding or shrugging. But he also would reply sincerely.

"Tell me Harry, how are the classes going? Anything new you wanna tell me?"

"I hate fractions" he said after a couple minutes of thinking his answer.

"Okay but do you understand them?" He nodded, "that's good, it's not that bad. They haven't killed anyone to this day. Now tell me, do you remember the last time you went out? Our sessions and family dinners don't count".

This time Harry took more time to answer, he barely went out, he didn't even have friends because there were no places he was interested in visiting so he just shook his head.

"No? You don't remember it?" She asked "is it because it was a long time ago?" He nodded. "Some people feel more safe if they stay inside their houses, you should think about going out sometimes, though", the boy huffed, clearly saying he didn't like the idea of going out. "Great this is all for today, I'll talk with your mother a while, then you can leave".

The psychologist told Anne to get him to go outside, make him find a reason to want to be out. She explained to her that one day they wouldn't be there for him and he'd have to do everything for himself. It didn't have to be a lot at the beginning, she said they'd have to take baby steps. Anne said she'd try everything.

Next day was Saturday, it was the best opportunity for trying to convince Harry to go out.

"Harry" she called him, her voice a little nervous but tried to seem casual, he hummed in response, still eating, just to let her know he'd have heard her. "I'm going to the mall in a couple minutes, would you like going with me?"

Harry frowned and stopped eating. They were definitely overestimating him, but he knew his psychologist told his mom about it since he'd told her he didn't go out. He wanted to refuse at first, but the way his mom looked at him -with the hope he'd go with her- made him not to. She wanted him to have a normal life, not because he bothered her, because she wanted the best for him. He knew he'd never be obligated to do something, and sometimes he took advantage of that. But this time he thought he'd feel bad if he broke it for her by saying no.

He thought about it for a couple minutes until he finally sighed and mumbled, "Alright".

His mom smiled widely and had to contain herself so she wouldn't start jumping around happily. "I'll buy you anything you want! Thank you! Thank you so much" she said hugging him tight. "I'll get my stuff", she let go and left Harry alone.

When he was finally by himself he started biting his nails. Anxiety was invading his body and he was feeling sick. He had agreed on going outside, and they weren't going to a quiet place, it was a place full of people.

Harry changed his clothes and got in the car. He hadn't feel anxiety in a long time, many horrible thoughts were going through his mind. Even though he tried thinking of something else, he couldn't. He tried to act as natural as he could, trying not to worry his mother. Anne parked the car and they got out. The mall was just a couple blocks away from their house, but they'd go in car since they would be buying some stuff.

When they were about to get in, Harry looked at the building really scared.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" His mom asked, but he said no.

Sometimes Harry thought his mom saw him as a kid, and not as the teenager he was. Once they were inside, Harry looked around surprised, looking at the lights, colors and listening to the music from some store. It was a while since he last went out his house, he felt anxiety for the people who was around him. Anne had stopped walking and waited for him to adapt to the crowded place. After a couple minutes Harry started walking slowly, his mother smiled and guided him towards the supermarket section. He followed her behind like a soldier. Some people greeted her, he thought maybe they were people she'd met here while she was shopping.

"Is this Harry your son you always talk about?" An old woman asked, looking at the boy.

"Yes he is" Anne replied proudly.

"He's more handsome in person" She smiled and pulled out her hand to mess up his hair, making Harry widen his eyes and take a couple steps back.

"He's a little shy" Anne awkwardly smiled and stood between them. "We need to go, see you later"

"Sure Anne, nice meeting you Harry" the lady smiled but Harry didn't look at her, he started walking away in a fast pace.

"Harry wait!" His mother followed him and he stopped when he heard her. "It's okay, Ms Weels won't hurt you".

Harry was still nervous, but he was trying to calm down, he knew he was exaggerating a little but he couldn't help it.

Once they had paid, they walked outside, walking past other stores which Harry watched with curiosity. Anne wanted him to ask her for something, like children and teens did with their parents, she'd try her best to get it for him. They kept walking until they were in front a CDs store, getting more attention from Harry.

"Here's where I buy your CDs" she said but not even a glance from the boy she'd get since he was focused on the objects exposed by the window. She came up with an idea, he was making too many progress in a day and she didn't want to throw it away, she didn't know if something like this would ever happen again.

"Darling I'm going to this store, I want to get some boots" this caught his attention, making him frown slightly. "Here, in case you want to buy something", she gave him money and went to the store in front of the CDs store, glancing shorty at him as she walked away.

His mom had left him by himself at a crowded place, this wasn't definitely the best day of his life. He put the money in his pocket and kept looking at the CDs until something caught his eye.

His eyes scanned the store and watched some people talk with each other while looking at guitar they'd possibly buy and the workers helping the customers. There were two girls and one boy, the three looking like teenagers and wearing a blue shirt with a name tag. One of the girls was tall and blonde, while the other had dark hair and was short. The boy was short and had brown hair, which looked soft. He had a huge smile on his face as he helped the customers. But what impressed him the most were his eyes, they were blue, he had never seen blue eyes like his. Now his attention was fully on him, following him with his eyes as he talked with customers, giving them their change and saying goodbye. Who knows how many times he'd been staring at the boy, until the boy turned around and saw Harry, making him look away and pretend he'd been seeing the CDs the whole time. His heart was now beating fast, he wanted to know his name. Harry didn't want to leave the place until he found out the boy's name, but from where he was he couldn't read what his name tag said. His only option was to go inside and buy something, but the boy needed to be the one to charge him. Would he able to do it? Or even talk without looking stupid? But he wouldn't go back there so it was now or never.

With more confidence he walked into the store, looking down at his shoes as he walked. The people around him kept talking without noticing the boy who could have a panic attack at any second. He looked up and tried to find the blue-eyed boy, staring at him when he saw him, the boy looked up from what he was doing and kept his attention on the curly haired boy. As soon as Harry saw him walk over to him with a smile on his face, he looked at the CDs next to him. When he felt him a couple meters from him he took a random cd.

"Welcome to MusicWorld, may I help you with something?"

The boy smiled at Harry who was still looking at the CDs, his voice was so soft and it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He tightened his grip on the CD that was in his hands, turning to face the other boy and show him the CD.

"This one?" He took the CD still smiling at Harry, who nodded nervously at his question.

"Okay, do you need anything else?" Harry shook his head and his eyes focused on the boy's name tag. 'I'm Louis, I'm here to help you.' His name is Louis. It's a cute name.

"Okay, come here then" he started walking and motioned him to follow him.

Harry walked behind him admiring his hair, his body and could even tell he was at least two inches shorter than him.

"Okay it'll be fifteen pounds" he spoke smiling at the boy while he got behind the counter.

Harry quickly took out the money and handed it to him. Their hands almost touch but Harry pulled away before anything could happen.

"Hold on a second, I'll wrap it" Harry nodded and watched him get into a room that was behind the counter.

He stood there and played nervously with his fingers, those couple seconds were an eternity for him. He relaxed a bit when he saw Louis walk out with the wrapped cd and placed it inside a bag with the store's name.

"Here you go, have a nice day" he smiled and handed him the bag.

Harry took it and exited the store quickly, his mother was already outside waiting for him. She had also a bag with a box in it, he thought she'd bought the boots she was interested in. Anne watched him surprised. For the first time he'd done something by himself, he walked into a store, talked with a stranger and he hadn't got a panic attack. Harry's heart was beating really fast, it wasn't a bad feeling though. It was warm and didn't affect him a lot.

"How was it sweetie?" She asked and he looked at her before looking at the bag in his hand.

"Did you buy that?" He nodded "Good, it wasn't that bad, was it? Let's go home"

Harry sighed loudly once they were outside the building, he felt safe now.

"Thank you for going with me today, Harry" his mother said when they got home.

He nodded and walked to his room without saying a word.

"Maybe it was a lot for one day" she sighed.

When Harry was finally in his room, he pulled the CD out the bag and looked at it carefully. It had a square shape from the cd and was wrapped in blue wrapping paper, it had the date '10/22/1994' at the top. It was wrapped perfectly and he assumed the boy had wrapped it and wrote the date. All the little aspects he could point out of the wrapped cd, made him smile. He needed to break the paper to see the cd but he didn't want to, he had picked it randomly, and he already had the CDs he wanted, his mom always made sure he got them. He preferred to keep it the way Louis put it in the bag. He stared at it a couple seconds, then he put it inside a box that was under his bed.

The next day he was in his grandparents house like every Sunday. He loved them, they had always been good to him. But he didn't like his cousins, some of them were younger and some older than him. He hadn't talk to them since that time.

Harry was six years old, he was sitting next to his mom when a cousin that was his age invited him to play with them, he shook his head at all the proposes the other boy made to him.

"Aunt Anne, why does Harry never talk? Is he stupid?" he asked and Harry widened his eyes.

"James!" the boy's mother scolded him

"What? It's the truth, he's a freak"

After that, Harry stopped talking, now more than he was used to. He stayed close his mother or his grandparents most of the time, since they didn't push him to talk. He spoke what was necessary and sometimes replaced gestures with words. That Sunday wasn't aware of what his family were doing since he had the boy from the CDs store in his mind. His name, his voice, his eyes. He needed to see him again.


	2. Part Two

He couldn't even concentrate on the classes with Marianne on Monday, also on Tuesday too. 

"Is something wrong, sweetie? You're not paying attention like you used to" she said softly. 

He looked at her and watched her, she was right, he was barely listening to her words. But he shook his head.

"Are you sure? You know you can trust me anything" he bit his lip and was unsure on what to do, he decided to trust her and tell her.

"Can we..." He started slowly, he couldn't even finish the sentence, scared of getting a no as the answer. It was harder than he thought. 

"Can we?.." Marianne encouraged him to continue 

"Can we... Go to the mall?" He finished and looked down at the floor, he started biting his nails because of nervousness. 

Marianne was surprised because after all the years knowing him, he'd never asked her to go somewhere outside the house. His parents were currently at work, she was in charge of anything that could happen to him. She knew what to do with him as long as they were in the house, never outside. She could call his parents off a public phone if something happened. Harry knew if she agreed they'd need to walk, but that wouldn't stop him from going. Marianne took so long thinking, Harry was already getting disappointed. 

"Fine"

Harry looked up at her surprised. She smiled at him. 

"Go get your stuff, we'll go in a minute".

Harry nodded and rushed upstairs to his room, she watched him she wasn't sure what made him want to go out. He came back after a minute with a grey backpack on his back and they left. Harry was breathing heavily, whatever that was in his mind kept him nervous. Without mentioning the last time he walked in the streets of London he was really young, he was watching everything around him like a man who got out of jail after a long time. The weather was cold but it still was sunny. 

Marianne watched him making sure he didn't see her, when she was alone she'd tell Anne about what happened. The walk was quiet since Harry never talked, and she preferred it that way because she didn't want to make a stupid remark that'd make things awkward. 

They finally arrived. Marianne followed him behind as he walked more confident into the mall, trying to avoid any contact with the people there. He walked to the CDs store which was where he wanted to go in the first place. He stood outside and looked inside through the window, he couldn't see him, he stared hoping he'd be wrapping something but he didn't appear. 

"Harry?" His teacher's voice distracted him from his thoughts and looked back at her. "Is this where you wanted to go?" He nodded looking down at his shoes, "why don't you go inside?"

He now looked at the store, watching other three workers he hadn't seen last week. 

"You're looking for someone, aren't you?" she asked when she saw him look around repeatedly times, he pursed his lips together. "Why don't you ask for them?" Silence. "Want me to ask?" He looked at her and bit his lip, maybe this was the sign she needed to know what'd happen next. 

Harry took a while to answer, he hadn't pronounced his name out loud, just in his mind. 

"Louis" he mumbled

She didn't even frown, if she wasn't paying attention she wouldn't have heard it and it'd been awkward to ask again. He was looking for a boy. The question was why. She didn't bother to ask, she decided to give him privacy. 

"Okay, come here. I'll ask" 

They both walked in, as simple look they seemed mother and son, even though they didn't look related. A lady with dyed blond hair around her fifties walked to them. 

"Welcome to MusicWorld, may I help you with something?"

"Yes please, we're looking for Louis" Harry tensed up waiting for the answer.

"Louis?" The lady asked "the only Louis I know works here on Saturdays"

"Oh okay, thank you. Sorry for bothering" Marianne smiled politely.

"It's not a bother" the woman said. Marianne placed her hand on Harry's shoulder and they left the store. 

Harry didn't say a word at all, at least now he knew he'd only be able to see him on Saturdays. 

"Do you want to do something else or go home?" Marianne asked him and he raised two fingers, indicating he chose the second option. 

On their way back home, they both stayed quiet without saying a word. Marianne was still impressed how Harry managed to stay calmed in a crowded place with a lot of noise. When they got home they said goodbye, the class was supposed to end time ago. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Harry. Remember to keep the front door locked until your parents get home" Marianne said and turned on her heels to leave but she stopped when she felt her coat getting stuck in something. She turned to look and saw it was Harry, he had took it to stop her.

"Thank you" he mumbled, it was one of the words in his short vocabulary. This was one of his most used words since he couldn't replace it with body language. 

"You're welcome, Harry, it was nice going with you"

The next day Marianne called to his house really early to make sure Harry was still sleeping and wouldn't hear the conversation. She told Anne all the details of what happened. Anne was surprised, her son had gone outside by his own will. 

"Just wanted to keep you updated with his behavior, it really surprised me"

"Thank you for taking care of Harry while we're not home. I'll make sure to take him to the mall on Saturday if that's what he wants" 

He acted indifferent with his psychologist the next day, he didn't mention the two times he went out, but his mother told her about the last Saturday and what Marianne had told her. 

Harry didn't care about anything about his boring life. He just waited for the Saturday. He waited excitedly to that day without saying a single word to his mom. He was hoping he didn't have to ask her. And he didn't had to. 

"Love I'm going to the mall in half an hour, and a week ago you agreed to go with me. I was wondering if you wanted to go today as well" she said knowing already the answer. 

Harry nodded pressing his lips together, fighting back a smile. 

They repeated the routine from last week, with the difference that this time Harry was decided to go to the CDs store and his mother wouldn't go to the shoe store in front of it; but Anne gave him the privacy to do whatever he wanted to meanwhile she was shopping the groceries. There he was, walking towards the store. He was going to see him. This time he didn't have to look for him twice, when he saw him he felt his heart racing. He was there in his blue uniform from work, always with a smile as he talked with costumers.  
Harry walked in as if his body was acting by itself, he wanted to be close to him once more. Without even looking at the shelves, he took a random CD and walked straight towards the blue eyed boy. When the boy finished helping the other costumer he smiled widely at Harry. 

"Welcome to MusicWorld, how may I help you?"

His voice. His freaking voice. It had been ringing in his head the last seven days. It was mellifluous.  
Harry gave him the plastic box he had grabbed previously and the boy took it smiling.

"Do you need anything else?" The green eyed boy shook his head "Alright. Wait here, please. Give me a minute to wrap this properly"

Louis came back with the package in his hands, he put it inside the bag and then he took the money Harry handed him. 

"Thanks for shopping here, hope you come back soon!"

Harry left the place. His hands were sweating and he felt his body tense. He felt good, he was nervous because of the crowd, he couldn't deny it. But when he was in front of Louis it felt like the rest of the world vanished, he felt in peace. It was a feeling that was new and nice for him. He started walking to find his mom. 

Louis watched him leave the store. 

"It's him" a voice said that was then drowned by the noise of the costumers. 

Ellen, the lady that worked on tuesdays and thursdays, had told Louis that some woman had asked for him, which was very strange to him since he didn't know anyone that fitted the description of that woman. But what called out his attention the most was that she wasn't alone, she was with a teenager. A boy with chocolate curly hair, tall, pale skin, green eyes that in no moment seemed to have the intention to say a word. That description fitted perfectly to that boy. 

"I would like to know his name" he mumbled, helping the rest of the costumers. 

Harry couldn't believe it. He got home and locked himself in his room, his mom thought he liked to enjoy his new CDs on his own and as soon as possible; but instead of that he took the package in his hands and looked at it carefully to admire every millimeter of the date written at the top. Like it made him feel closer to that boy by possessing something he had done. Something he wrapped himself. Something he had written. After an hour staring at it, he put it inside the box with the first CD he had bought the past week. Then he lied in bed looking at the white ceiling. He couldn't get him out of his head, he felt a kind of pain thinking he had to wait another long seven days to see him. Long hours waiting just to see him for a couple minutes. But he still thought it was worth it.

Marianne didn't interrogate Harry to see if he had found the person he was looking for, she decided not to and waited for him to be ready to do it on his own. Besides, there was already a person in charge of listening to what he thought. Although Stella didn't make much of an advance that friday. 

"Tell me Harry, have you gone outside these past weeks?" he nodded, "was it a good experience or it wasn't of your liking?" he raised his index finger, indicating he was picking the first option for the question. "Do you think you'll go out soon?" if by soon it meant the next day then he was definitely going to. He nodded. "That's good. Tell me Harry, is there a reason that motivates you to go out?" Harry tensed. Yes there was a reason. One with name and last name. Well, even if he didn't know it of course he should have one. A reason with the most beautiful eyes. But he didn't want to tell her, so he just shook his head. Stella immediately knew he was lying, she was expecting him to lie before she even asked the question that was with that intention. "Well I'm glad you're progressing. The outside isn't a horrible place" she said indifferent. "So, how did the history test go?" she said changing the topic.

By the end of the session, like all fridays, Harry stayed by himself for a few minutes while his mother and the psychologist talked about him. At the beginning, when he was younger, he did tantrums about it, it was uncomfortable for him as he thought they would speak bad things about him. But with talking and the time they convinced him that it wouldn't happen and he got used to it. 

"Are you sure that he went in that store with the intention of seeing someone in particular?"

"I'm 100% sure, his tutor told me"

"When I asked him today if there was a reason on why he went out he said no."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That Harry lied" Anne got really surprised by hearing that, he thought of his son as someone really innocent that wouldn't say a lie. "Don't worry Mrs Cox, lying is a normal action of human beings. He is trying to keep his secret as small as possible. There are still a few things to figure out, like the reason why he feels the need to see this person and what is his intentions with her."

"Him" she corrected her, saying her the gender of the person Harry was showing interest in "It's about a boy"

"Alright, him." She said as it didn't really matter. The gender wasn't something that mattered in cases like this "Some common possibilities is when they see the person as role model, someone they want to become, because they remind them of a relative they are close to, or it's someone they feel comfortable with or even they find the person attractive. Sometimes the combination of two or more factors like the examples I mentioned. And the intentions are diverse depending on the person. The most common are physical attraction or emotional attraction, attached to the wish to make a friendly bond with them, or romantic."

"Romantic bond?" She asked confused.

"Anything could be possible, Anne. Only Harry knows what's happening inside his head."

Anne was a little shocked by what Stella said. But what she had said made a lot of sense. With that she decided not to bug Harry and let him do whatever he wants. He knew what he was doing and she trusted him blindly.

The next day Anne invited Harry to the mall, who didn't hesitate to accept the invitation by nodding his head. Probably all Saturdays would be like this now. His mother left him by himself the moment they walked by the entrance of the building.

Harry took a deep breath before going inside the music store, taking a random CD and began walking towards the blue-eyed boy. Louis glanced at him shortly while he was with other costumer. He was back.

"Welcome to MusicWorld, how may I help you?" he said smiling widely for the third time they saw each other.

Harry gave him the CD, Louis taking it and staring at him for a few seconds. Harry was waiting like the last times that he asked if he needed something else and asked him to follow him to the cashier.

"Megan" he called one of his co workers to make her look at him for a few seconds since she was with other costumer. "Could you watch over my area for a few minutes?"

"Alright" she said with a smile "you owe me a favor"

"Make them two" Louis said with a wide smile on his lips "and thank you." The boy looked back at Harry who shivered slightly. "You come here often, what's your name?" He asked curious. 

Harry's heart literally stopped. He looked at the boy with wide eyes and parted his lips to say something but nothing came out. What if he said something stupid? He had to talk to him. Answer. If he didn't do it he might think he was stupid, but he couldn't get the courage to say something. He wasn't ready and he was taking too long to answer, which made him a lot more nervous. He didn't know how patient would be the boy with him. Luckily, Louis noticed how nervous he was and tried to make things easier somehow. 

"Maybe it was a too direct question to start off" he joked. But he made it clear with his expressions that he didn't think of Harry as someone with mental disabilities, he wanted to make him comfortable. "Can you talk?" He asked and prayed internally that the boy didn't have a disability that made him unable to talk, because if he did he would feel really embarrassed. He felt relief when the green eyed boy nodded, "Can you read?" the boy nodded again. "Okay, what's my name then? I'll give you a clue" he said smiling as he pointed at his name tag in his work uniform. 

He knew exactly his name. He had been thinking about it the last two weeks, but he had never said it out loud besides the time he told Marianne when they were looking for him. There was no way out, he needed to answer. He licked his lips that were a light pink color and were dry as he never talked. 

"Louis" he finally said with deep and raspy voice. He felt his hands sweating and shaking. 

"Woah!" Louis said surprised, "your voice is really deep. I wouldn't have imagined it, it's amazing." Harry felt like his heart was beating too fast it was going to get out his chest. "Now tell me your name" he said smiling at him. 

"Harry" he said after a while. 

He did it. He told him his name. He couldn't believe it, he was having a conversation with the boy he found perfection itself. 

"Harry" he repeated with his high pitched slash perfect voice. 

Harry's mind was on fire. Like he was screaming with no sound, everything in him was in shock. The person he found the most perfect just pronounced his name. If he died in that moment he couldn't care less. 

"Nice to meet you Harry, I can call you Harry right?" He nodded, if Louis pronounced his name again he would go mad. "You're someone of few words, I'm the total opposite, people tell me I can never shut up once I start talking." He didn't erase the smile on his lips as he talked, as if talking with him put him in a good mood.

Louis noticed more costumers started coming inside the store and he needed to help his co workers. He pursed his lips, wishing he could've more time to talk with Harry. 

"Seems like we will have to leave this for other day, they need me. Come with me"

'Other day?' Harry thought. He was going to talk to him again? Is that what he meant?

They walked towards the counter. Like the past times, Louis went to the room behind the counter, coming back after a couple seconds with the CD Harry had previously given him and had in his hands while they talked, but now it was wrapped in blue wrapping paper with the date. 

"All the CDs are for yourself?" He asked while he took the money and gave him the bag. Harry looked at him surprised and nodded, "I'm sorry, I ask too many questions, tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." Harry shook his head repeatedly times, "Okay good. Enjoy de CD and hope you come back soon!" he said kindly with that beautiful smile before walking out to help other costumers. 

Harry exited the store quickly. He felt weird. He walked in a restroom, a place where he felt more safe without all the crowd, the white walls relaxed him a little. He was breathing heavily. The last words he had said to him, they weren't just because he was a costumer, they came out naturally. He was hoping to see him again. They talked and he liked him, he didn't think of Harry as a freak or a complete idiot. Harry walked to the mirror and left the bag on the sink as he looked at his reflection. At least he looked like a normal person in the outside, he was the one that felt weird. He raised his hand and touched his cheek, he swore the could feel it really warm even if it looked normal. He splashed some water in his face, then drying it with a paper towel. He didn't know how things would turn out now, but he had managed to keep a conversation going with someone. With him. And it wasn't the end of the world. 

Once he found his mom they went to the car. In a red light, his mother looked at him and decided to say something to breath the silence. 

"How did things go at the mall, sweetie?"

Harry was looking outside window when his mother asked, he heard her and shrugged his shoulders as it hadn't been the big deal. But then she saw it, she couldn't see his face completely but she could see a part of his face on the reflection of the window. He had a small smile on his face, she wasn't even sure if he was aware he was smiling. The sound of a honk from the car behind them, got her out her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the light was now green. She quickly started driving again, earning a frown from Harry when he looked at her. 

"Sorry, I got distracted."

He had smiled, she had seen it with her own eyes. She needed to tell Stella. She needed to tell Robin and Gemma, she felt the need to yell it to the world. Harry was showing his emotions really discretely, but it was a progress. Whoever was that person that made that change in Harry, she was extremely thankful for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if there are any mistakes. I'll post another part this weekend or next week, hope you enjoy it. :)


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it's a little short, I didn't update because of school but I also didn't want not to update so I translated a little to post. :)

The rest of the week, Harry acted like usual, indifferent like he used to. Nothing excited him, he kept going to his classes as if nothing happened last weekend. He didn't say anything about Louis, Anne made sure to keep Stella updated on what Harry did while he just waited impatiently for the Saturday. 

Finally it came, every week felt like an eternity to him. He had something to wait for everyday. His mother went to do the grocery shopping in the mornings, but that day, Harry's grandma had asked her to go with her to get a haircut so she they were going after lunch. Harry was with a frown all morning and didn't speak at any moment. Anne apologized to him, although this behavior was good sometimes. After lunch, Anne washed the dishes and they went to the mall. Harry wasn't even sure of Louis' working schedule, it made him really nervous to think that he might only work in the mornings meaning he wouldn't see him today. Luckily, when he got to the store, Louis was there. 

He went inside the store he kind of knew perfectly. He started to feel less nervous for the people around, but he couldn't say the same about the boy that he went to see. He saw him walk his way and he grabbed a random CD. 

"Welcome to MusicWorld, Harry" he said smiling once he was closer to him. He remembered his name, he felt really special he couldn't explain it with words. "It's so nice to see you again" Harry's face was expressionless, but inside he was screaming internally. "I thought you only came in the mornings, I guess I was wrong" he laughed a little, it being music to Harry's ears. "That's good" the anger he had felt that morning was now gone for a while. "Maybe we can continue the small chat we were having last week, I mean, if you're not in a hurry of course" Harry shook his head quickly. "Amazing! I'm guessing you already had lunch, right?" He nodded. "Would you like to spend time with me while I eat? I'm really hungry" Harry nodded again. It was like Louis didn't try to act nice to him just because he was a costumer, it was like he actually liked him. 

Louis motioned him to follow him to the room behind the counter, where they wrapped the CDs. It was a large room, it had a restroom for the employees, a small kitchen, a table with a few papers on it, three chairs around it and a board on the wall with a few reminders. 

"Sit down" he said kindly as he walked to the fridge to get a container with sandwiches inside it. He did as he was told and sat on one of the chairs, Louis then sitting close to him in other chair. "Do you want one? My mum made them" Harry shook his head, he'd have loved taking one but he was still full. 

He watched how Louis started eating his sandwich, it seemed like he really was hungry. He was staring at him with awe. After noticing how Harry looked at him concentrated just after finishing his second sandwich, he looked at him. 

"Enjoying the view?" He asked, teasing him as he took a sip of his soda. 

Harry froze. He didn't know what to answer. If he said yes, he'd seem like a weird stalker. If he said no, there was a possibility Louis would get offended. Louis saw the panic in Harry's eyes. 

"Hey relax, it was a joke. I always say this kind of stuff, sarcastic and dumb. I'm sorry if I seemed rude" Harry shook his head, indicating him he hadn't done anything wrong. "You're really shy, aren't you?" Harry just stared at him, he was scared he would notice his damn problem and would stop talking to him. "I mean, I have only heard you say two words in four weeks. I think that's unfair, you got an amazing voice, it's a waste you don't talk often" The boy did nothing but look at him surprised "Let's do something. You come every saturday to see me, and I will help you overcome your shyness issue. Unless, I'm the only person you don't speak to that often" Harry shook his head. "Alright, let's start by replacing the head movements for yes and no. It's not that it bothers me, you look cute when you do it, but you would only need to answer with two words of a few letters. It doesn't sound that hard, what do you think?" Harry nodded and Louis chuckled a bit "this may take a while." He ran his hand through his hair. "One more time, are you willing to do it?"

It wasn't something people hadn't tried before, different people, different methods, for years. Managing to get him to talk like a normal person. Everything was pointless. A percent of the professionals he'd seen said it was because of his illness, but the other percent said it was he didn't put a lot of effort to get better. And now Louis was there, smiling at him. Wanting to help him without having anyone to pay him. Without even knowing what Harry's problem was. He couldn't say no, he didn't want to disappoint him. Not him. He was about to nod his head but he stopped himself. 

"Yes" He said finally, with his eyes on the floor, when he looked up he saw Louis with his head leaning on his palm and a wide smile on his lips that made his eyes look smaller. 

"That's a total of three words" he said with the smile never leaving his lips. 

One single word and he could see him smile like that. Maybe if he tried to change he really could. If the prize was seeing Louis happy, it was totally worth it. 

The door opened, it was one of Louis' workmates. It was the blond and tall girl. She came in with a box, which looked like a speaker. She cut a large piece of wrapping paper, the same Louis used to wrap the CDs he bought, she wrapped it all with tape and left the room with the box wrapped. 

"That's Megan. She's a really nice girl, she was the first person I talked to when I started working here. The other girl is Cynthia, she's also nice, but she took more time to open up with me. I think she likes me but I just like her as a friend."

Harry didn't know why but the though that Louis might like one of his work mates, kind of upset him. 

"Oh" he said with disappointment in his voice when he looked at the clock, "I have to go back to work"

He put the rest of the food and the beverage in the fridge, and they exited the room to go back to their usual routine of Harry purchasing a random CD. 

"Enjoy your purchase, see you soon" Louis said politely. 

The following Friday, Anne and Stella were having a small chat. 

"There haven't been more changes in his speaking but he seems more energetic"

"I think that guy I mentioned last time, Louis, is like some sort of friend. I'm not sure" 

"He hasn't told you anything about him?"

Anne shook her head sad, "should I ask him about it?"

"No, let him handle this. Apparently it's helping him." Anne nodded, agreeing with her. 

That saturday they went to the mall in the morning like usual. Harry went inside the store and he didn't do anything when Cynthia was already greeting him. 

"Welcome to MusicWorld, can I help you with something?"

Cynthia was close to the store's entrance and she was free, meanwhile Louis was selling something far away from where Harry was. Cynthia was jealous, which was really stupid because he was a boy, but if she could stop them from talking it would be great, she thought. Harry was really nervous, he had the idea that Louis would always be the one to help him, like every week. He didn't think of the possibility that someone else would do it. He was going to make an effort to talk more, but not with everyone yet. He didn't even have the time to grab a random CD, but he was thankful of that, if she was the one to help him he wouldn't be able to talk with Louis. He wouldn't let that happen, he only saw him once a week and it was a brief moment, it was a long wait to let it go like this, but what could he do?

"Harry" He heard that voice that made all his problems disappear and he felt as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He was safe. Him and the brunette girl turned over to look at Louis who had approached them now that he had finished helping the other costumer. 

"Don't worry, Lou, I got this" she said with a wide smile while looking at him, it was obvious she had a crush on him. 

"No" he said quickly, making the girl erase the smile from her face. "You see" he changed his voice, realizing he had sounded somewhat harsh before, "Harry is my favorite costumer, and I'm his favorite worker" he winked at him with a smile on his lips. "It's something mutual, that's why whenever he comes I will be the one to help him. If I'm busy, he'll wait for me to get free. Understand?" He finished, smiling in a cocky way. 

"Whatever" she said with anger in her voice, walking away to somewhere else in the room. 

"She'll get over it" he said now smiling at Harry, who was looking at him surprised "are you okay?"

"Yes" He said and looked away. 

"Well, what does my favorite costumer need help with?" Harry felt a shiver run down his spine, every nice thing Louis said to him made his heart race. He looked at the shelves and took a random CD, giving it to him. Louis furrowed his eyebrows and tried to hold back his growing smile. He bit his bottom lip, and this made him look sexy, which caused Harry to swallow with difficulty. 

"You know? It's a shame we can't spend more time together today. Spending my lunch break to talk to you was a lot nicer than doing it by myself. I can't use my break right now, if I take my lunch now, I'll be starving the rest of the day" he said scrunching up his nose. 

The combination of his words and his facial expressions made Harry smile. 

"You smiled" Louis said surprised interrupting himself. Harry erased the smile from his face and stared at him. "You smiled" he repeated, now with a smile on his lips "I can't believe it. Smiling is something you definitely need to do more too."

"Louis" Megan's voice echoed behind them, "sorry to interrupt but there's a lot to do". 

"Yeah, sorry" He apologized and turned to Harry with a cheeky smile on his lips. "This one" he said, referring to the CD. 

"Yes" he responded quickly, looking at the floor. 

"Alright, follow me"

Harry wasn't the best at pretending, Louis could tell he was picking the CDs randomly, he thought they were excuses to go to the store often. He thought of mentioning it, saying he had noticed what he did and he could visit him without having to buy anything. But Harry was like a Pandora box, he couldn't tell how he'd act next. So even if he acted with confidence, he was cautious of what he said around him, deciding he wouldn't bring it up. It was the same with his disease, he was aware what Harry had wasn't just shyness, but he acted as he didn't know and treated him like a normal person. He had the strong feeling that treating him like a 100% normal person would help him more than treating him in a special way, and make him feel different, excluded. Louis really wanted to help Harry. 

After, they went back to their usual routine of going to the cashier, give the money, take the money, wrap the CD, take the bag with the wrapped CD and say goodbye. 

Just going back to waiting another week was becoming a cycle for Harry. But that was the only thing that motivated him.


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying the story. Let me know if you see any mistake in my spelling/grammar. Feedback is always welcome!  
> I also would like to know your opinions until now:)

This week would be different, he was going to take a big step this time. He gathered enough courage the whole week, he just needed to handle it well. 

"Harry" his mother called him, "are we going to the mall?"

She was completely sure he'd accept without a doubt, but to her surprise he refused. 

"Why not?" She asked shocked, he stared at her. "Did something bad happen?" he shook his head. "You don't want to go anymore?" He nodded. "I don't get it", he took a deep breath and after a few seconds he explained. 

"The afternoon"

"You want to go during the afternoon instead?" He nodded. She felt the need to ask the reason, but she couldn't do it. It was obvious that he wanted to see Louis. "You know that I usually work an extra shift on Saturday afternoons, sweetie. I'm not sure if I can take you" she hated doing this to him, but sometimes she couldn't give him everything he wanted, but he was already shaking his head before she couldn't even finish talking. 

"I'll go by myself"

Anne was completely shocked. Harry wanted to go without her to the mall. A month ago she barely could get him to go out to the backyard. She was happy, but scared. 

"I'm not sure, it would be dangerous" she couldn't believe what she was saying, Harry was trying to live the life she always wanted him to and now she had to stop him. 

"I'm not a child anymore" he said, seriousness on his face. His mother had never seen him so determined and confident. Whatever Louis did with him was having a bigger impact than the past times with doctors.

"Okay, you may go but be careful" she said with a little worry on her voice. He nodded. She needed to trust him, but she couldn't help but feel worried about all this. 

After lunch Harry grabbed his gray backpack and hung it on his shoulder. He was standing by the front door, his mother was staring at him and walked to him, pressing a soft kiss on his head full of chocolate curls. He took a deep breath and walked out his house. There he was. By himself. Walking in the streets of London. He was nervous, no one needed to be a genius to notice it, but his determination made him walk faster. A part of his brain made him feel as if he didn't want to see him anymore, it was a need now. 

He made it. The way to the mall had seemed eternal to him, but now that he was about to see the most important person to him, he felt as time came by faster. 

He walked in the store. Louis glanced at him shortly while he was with other costumer, and Harry waited patiently in silence. Once he was free, he walked to Harry. 

"I'm glad you came. Time to eat lunch" he simply said happily. 

Harry couldn't contain the smile that was forming on his lips. Both walked to the back room and sat by the table that had a few papers on it which Louis moved aside so he didn't ruin them while he ate his lunch. He ate a little faster than last time. 

"You know" he said once he had cleaned his mouth with a napkin, Harry couldn't take his eyes off him with every action he did. "I've been thinking the past week, I like you, but I know very few things about you. I thought we could get to know each other better, if you want to, of course."

"Yes" he said with his glance on the floor. 

"Harry" 

He called his attention which made him get goosebumps, he didn't look away from the floor though, but he could see Louis' hand getting closer to his face. For some reason he didn't feel the need to pull away to avoid his touch. Louis grabbed his chin gently, and made him look up at him, making them stare at each other. 

"You have a really beautiful green eyes to look at the floor every time you talk. Sometimes eyes can tell more than words can. Do you think you could try to look at me when you speak?"

Harry felt Louis petitions a lot harder each time, it was hard and stressful to do them. But he knew his intention wasn't to order him around, they were more like small favors. And he felt as if his heart broke into pieces if he saw him with a saddened expression because of something he did. 

"Alright" he said, looking into his blue orbs. 

"Thank you, really" he smiled widely, "I guess since I'm the talkative one, I'll start telling you things about me. Where should I start? Alright. My name is Louis William Tomlinson, I'm eighteen and I work here on Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm. I'm a capricorn. I live with my parents. I have six younger siblings, Lottie, Fizzy, the twins Phoebe and Daisy and the baby twins Ernest and Doris. We have a cat named Chester, he sleeps all day. My best friends are Zayn, he's quiet; Niall, he's blonde and has a really good sense of humor; and Liam, he's a caring person. I know them since we were really young, we always went to school together. I'm thinking of entering college next year, I'm still not sure what major to pick. I like listening to music and hanging out with my friends, most of the time we play videogames or play football. My favorite color is purple. My favorite season is fall. My favorite subject is chemistry and the least favorite is maths. Hmm... I'd tell you more things but I can't think of more right now". 

Harry had all his attention on Louis, he was shocked by the amount of siblings he had. He smiled when he noticed they both hated maths. He was also surprised at how Louis could open up so easily to him, never stopping smiling, it was really admirable. 

"What about you?"

He asked, making Harry snap out his thoughts. He looked at him nervously, he didn't expect him to talk a lot while describing himself like he just did, right? He was nervous. 

"Do you prefer it if I ask you and you answer?"

Harry felt the need to nod and look down at the floor, but needed to get used to be different around Louis. 

"Yes" he said staring directly into his eyes. 

"Alright your full name is Harry..."

"Edward Styles" he answered a couple seconds after. 

"Why do you have a really cool surname? That's not fair" he joked and Harry smiled. "Alright, Harry Edward Styles" the mentioned felt a shiver run down his spine when Louis said his full name. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen years old"

"Do you live with your parents?"

"Yes"

"Do you have siblings?"

"An older sister"

"Name?"

"Gemma, she's studying in United States"

"Amazing" It was amazing that he managed to say a full sentence. "Do you have pets?"

"No"

"Favorite color?"

"Red"

"Zodiac sign?"

"Aquarius"

"Favorite subject?"

"History"

"The one you hate?"

"Maths"

"Hey! High five!"

He said rising his hand in a vertical way. Harry looked at it and he knew what he had to do, but he wasn't sure if he could do it. He slowly raised his hand and shyly placed over the older one's. He had a slightly bigger hand than Louis.   
Those few seconds felt weird, as if time passed by, they were getting more confidence around each other, like they were getting closer. 

"The idea is for the hands to make a crashing sound" Louis joked with a smile. 

Harry pulled his hand away and nibbled on his bottom lip. Louis insisted on having a normal conversation, interacting as he was a normal person. Hadn't he noticed he was a complete fool that didn't know how to do things correctly? That he was a freak?

"Okay let's do it again. Three..." Harry raised his hand. "Two..." He moved it a little backwards. "One!"

Both swung their hands forward, crashing them together in a fast movement. Harry's heart was racing and his hand was trembling. 

"Yay for a world without maths!" He laughed. Harry smiled widely. "Dimples" he looked at him confused. "Those little marks that appear on your cheeks when you smile" he explained and touched his own cheeks, "my grandma used to say that people with dimples are really kind." Harry looked away after hearing that. "I don't have dimples" he said pouting his lips, "when I smile I get small wrinkles in my eyes. That's not cute."

"Yes it is"

Harry didn't even think of what he had just said, it came out naturally. Louis looked at him surprised, he had just told him a compliment. The young one was nervous, Louis could take it the wrong way. But he didn't. 

"If you say so"

Louis was trying to hold back his smile, failing as he had a wide smile spread on his lips, the wrinkles that he had just mentioned appearing close to his eyes. He started biting his nails as he looked at him. Harry stared at him, he bit his nails when he was nervous, anxious or embarrassed. He wondered if Louis was feeling any of those at that moment. So, Louis was shy sometimes, even if he was really confident most of the time; he thought. He was wondering in what other circumstances he would act like someone shy. 

"Damn" he said, looking at the clock, "time to go back to work"

Each day he passed with Louis, Harry convinced himself that he wasn't like everyone else. He was different. He talked to him as he knew him for a long time. He never asked him why he acted like an idiot that barely knew how to speak. He never forced him to talk, he requested him to, like small favors. Never forced him to talk to him, ironically being the only person he talked to that much lately. With him it wasn't hard to do it. Or maybe his desire to talk to him made it easier than with other people. 

The next Saturday was a really cold day. It was snowing a lot. The streets of London were completely white from the snow. Anne didn't allow Harry to go to the mall by walking, and she was busy working in the afternoon so they had to do their shopping in the morning. Harry was of course not happy about this, but the only option was to see him for a brief minutes or not seeing him at all. Anne knew it would upset him but she preferred him to get mad rather than him getting a cold, besides, going to the mall put him on a good mood so he would forget about it as soon as he saw Louis. 

As soon as he entered the store, Louis looked at him surprised. 

"Nice beanie, it looks good on you" he said once he was in front of him. 

Harry looked away. He was wearing a gray beanie with a matching scarf because of how cold the day was. Louis paid close attention every week to any change in Harry's attitude. Good or bad, he had reasons to do so. But until now things got better each time. 

"Judging by your clothes, I'm guessing it's cold outside."

Harry nodded, noticing what he did and corrected himself by saying yes. He wasn't used to talk with anyone apart from Louis, so he forgot what he had asked him about replacing the head movements with words. 

"That's okay" said a smiley Louis. "I'm not going to get mad at you for not using words. With other people you keep using gestures to replace words, right?"

"Yes."

"Don't do it."

Harry looked at him speechless. If those words came out from someone else they would sound harsh. But Louis it was different, said it in a nice way like he was really interested in helping him to get better. But the small favors became harder each time. He had done everything that he asked him to do until now but he wasn't sure if he could do what he was asking him to do this time.

"We only see each other once a week, it's predictable that you might forget to answer with words. If you practice it'll be easier, trust me" he said giving him a warm smile. 

Harry thought that was true, and now he had told him to trust him. He didn't want to let him down, it was the last thing he wanted to do. 

"I'll try" he said still doubtful. 

"I really appreciate it" he smiled even bigger. "Besides, I'm sure I won't be the only person who will be glad about that"

The younger one then realized Louis was also thinking of his family. On how happy they would be if Harry talked to them. He thought of how happy his mom would be. After all he was being egoist for not giving her anything knowing she would really appreciate it. But he wasn't trying to stop her from being happy, it wasn't something he did on purpose. But he would try. He would try to give her back the affection she had given him all these years. He was far from being the perfect son that all mothers wanted. But Anne always loved him, spoiled him and was patient with him. In her eyes, he was perfect somehow. The least he could do is give her something in return, to show her how thankful he was. He thought on the amazing person Louis was, worrying about others without even knowing them in person. He thought on how amazing it might be making him understand. He must make an effort to be better. No one was going to do it for him. It was like if years of guilt were dropped on him like a bucket of cold water. He had been staring at something, just thinking. 

"Louis" Megan's voice was heard, snapping them both out their thoughts. 

"Yes, I'm coming" he said. 

Harry got a little embarrassed. It wasn't the first time Louis got scolded for getting distracted by talking with him. He felt like a burden. 

"I'm sorry, it seems like I'll have to eat by myself. I hope the weather gets better next week."

"So do I"

He really hoped to spend more time with Louis next time. Each time the hours he had to wait became longer. Each time every minute he spent with him seemed to be shorter. Him. That's all he thought about. After getting into his room and putting the unopened CD inside the box under his bed, he took one of his favorite CDs and started listening to it while laying on his bed, with his eyes on the white ceiling. The music was in a really low volume, he considered that listening to it this way helped him relax. He had his hands behind his head, his fingers laced together. All he did was listen to that relaxing sound. A romantic song was on now, he had never payed full attention to the lyrics of the songs. Most of the time he picked them from how relaxing they were. This time was different, he was paying attention to every word, every sentence. They talked about love, about feelings for other people. Harry couldn't stop thinking of Louis as a song played after another, everything was getting mixed together. Louis, the songs, the feelings. What did he feel for Louis? He liked him. He really liked him. But not the way he liked his mom and his sister. He was really nice. So friendly. So handsome. He was... just perfect. To Harry's eyes, Louis was perfect. He covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. He knew it right away. He liked Louis. He liked him and there wasn't something he could to stop it. He couldn't stop seeing him, he needed to. But he couldn't tell him how he felt, definitely, it wasn't an option, he'd think of him as a freak and would try to get away from him. He wouldn't be able to handle that. He thought things would stay the same, he just needed to put more effort to be better, to be a normal person. Although it was damn hard for him, he had to put a lot of effort if the prize was to see Louis proud of him, then, the try would be worth it. 

The next days, meanwhile his parents were at work and his classes with Marianne had finished, he was home alone. Like he used to since he was a kid. He started practicing in loneliness. He started by saying one word, which then became mumbling. Then a small word said in a low tone. And finally a word said in a proper way. Then he tried to say more words at once, that was difficult for him but at least he was relieved to be talking to himself. Anyone who would've seen this would have laughed; a sixteen years old idiot, talking to himself. Practicing his speech to do it well, while to the rest of the world it was a piece of cake. He thought he was pathetic, but he didn't stop trying. He got better each day. When he finally managed to talk somehow well, he decided to take things further and stood in front of the mirror, pretending his reflection was other person. He could see the fear in his eyes. He stayed silent for a couple minutes. But he imagined his reflection was Louis, smiling back at him. 

"You can do it Harry"

In his head he could hear Louis saying that across the mirror. Okay, maybe he was finally going mad. But he knew those would be probably his words if Louis saw him in that precise moment. The image he created in his head instead of his reflection faded away, encountering his worst enemy. Himself. 

He had his hands in a fist as he took a deep breath and looked at the mirror with a brave look. 

"My name is Harry Styles and I'm not scared! You know why? Because Louis believes in me! He makes me strong!"

He screamed. He took a few steps backwards, plopping on his back over his bed. He was breathing heavily and his heart was racing. Despite he was nervous, he could feel a little proud of himself. It definitely felt amazing. 

At night his mom arrived from work and was making dinner. Harry headed to the kitchen to get some water. He was wearing his slippers and a towel around his waist. He didn't seem to have showered yet. Anne watched him. 

"Are you taking a shower?" She asked even if the answer was obvious. 

Harry stopped drinking the water off the cup and looked into her eyes. 

"Yes" He answered and turned around to leave. 

"Alright, I'll try not to use the sink" she said softly as she watched him leave. 

Anne continued with the dinner. She took a spoonful of the sauce to taste it but then something suddenly left her in shock, making her drop the spoon which fell on the floor and caused a mess. But she couldn't care less. She looked at the door that Harry left through. 

"Yes?" She repeated to herself because she was really surprised. It had been many years since Harry had stopped using that word to nod his head instead.


	5. Part Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took a while to update, senior year has been killing me haha. In other news, there's only two parts left of the story! Just wanted you guys to know that this story has TWO endings, so don't worry... that means there's two remaining parts AND an alternative ending!

In the session with Stella she also noticed the change in Harry. He answered the questions after a couple seconds. He looked at her sometimes, he wasn't using gestures to replace words. Neither Stella and Anne couldn't stop being shocked. 

"Harry, love. Wake up" his mother tried to wake him up. "We have to go over to your grandparents".

Harry was half asleep, but hearing that made him wake up completely. With a really harsh movements he pushed the blankets off him and stared at his mom. It was Saturday. Saturdays were his special day. Saturdays were his free day. The day he got to see Louis. Why did he have to go to his grandparents house? They did that on Sunday. He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed, waiting for an answer, even though no answer would be of his liking. 

"Your grandparents are leaving on a trip tomorrow so they're organizing the lunch today"

"No"

"Harry..."

"I'm not going"

Anne liked it that her son was talking more. But in this situation it shattered her heart. These reunions were long and if they finished late, Harry wouldn't be able to go to the mall. 

"You have to" she said worried. 

She could see how his eyes watered, his face still with an upset expression. She thought he might be getting really mad. He got out of bed really quick and went to the bathroom, where he locked himself for a few minutes. All this was really unfair for him. It wasn't fair that they held him back from what made him really happy at the moment. All this practice for nothing. He tried to calm down. After a long while he came out and went to the restroom where his parents were already dressed up and ready to go. He was just wearing some old sweatpants and a woolly sweater that his grandmother had sewed for him a few years back. 

"You're not changing your clothes, sweetie?" His mom asked him. 

He shook his head staring at her. He was clearly mad, really mad. She felt her heart shatter into pieces, Harry had been replying with words and a sudden change of plans changed everything in very few minutes. 

"We'll try to leave early and go to the mall, okay? I don't promise anything. Please don't be mad"

He just stared at her and then looked away. He headed to the car and got in. As quick as he could get out that family reunion, he would have the chance to see him at least for a few minutes. Even a few seconds. 

Once they arrived to his grandparents' house, Harry barely greeted him just to be polite. He was clearly upset and didn't want anyone to bother him. He didn't even bother to reply with gestures when they talked to him. He was so mad he even lost his appetite. The rest was laughing and talking between them while Harry just stayed quiet and stared at the clock in the living room. It was twenty minutes before six in the afternoon, the time when Louis finished his shift at work. And his parents didn't seem to be done talking any soon, he couldn't handle the idea of not seeing Louis. He couldn't even go walking since his grandparents house was out of town. There was only one thing left to do. 

"Mom" he called her, taking her arm. 

She stopped laughing and pay attention to the conversation to focus on Harry. It had been a long while since he called her that, and he only did it when it was something really important. 

"Please" he said, begging her with a look. If there was any hope that he'd get to see Louis, it was all in his mother's hands. 

She saw how worried he was and then looked at the clock. The possibilities to make it there on time were just a few but she would try. 

"It's been a lovely lunch like always" Anne said, clearly on a rush as she got up. "I hope you have a nice trip and you bring a nice souvenir for us" she said taking her coat and handing Robin his. 

"Oh, you're leaving?" said Harry's grandmother. "Don't you want to stay a little longer?"

"We really would love to, but I just remembered I have to go to a place that's closing soon. It's really important that I make it on time" saying the last thing, she looked over at Harry. He was watching her expressionless, but he was thankful. 

They said their goodbyes and got out of there quickly. Once they were inside the car, Harry knew they didn't have too much time left so they played nervously with his fingers and bit his lip. Anne just watched him through the mirror. 

His father parked the car in the parking lot and as soon as the car had stopped, Harry opened the door and started running towards the shopping center. 

"Harry!" Robin yelled worried, but Anne stopped him. 

"Let him be, he knows what he's doing."

Harry didn't even think it twice, he was acting by instinct. He needed to get there. He ran as fast as he could through the parking lot, through the building until getting to the store. 

It was still open. He made it. He really did it. He was breathing heavily and his mouth was really dry. He had never run that much nor that fast in his life. But he didn't care. He left aside how tired he was and he entered the store. Louis was free, it was expected, the place was going to close in two minutes. Louis saw him approaching him and smiled widely. 

"I thought you wouldn't make it" he said biting on his lip. 

Harry was trying to catch his breath, his face was red from running and his hair was messier than usual. Once the CD was purchased there wasn't anything left to do. 

"The last purchase of the day" he said giving him the bag. "Can you wait here for a few seconds? I'll be right back". 

"Alright" he replied without knowing what he was going to do. 

Louis went inside the room behind the counter once again, and after a few minutes he came out dressed differently. He had taken off his uniform. Harry didn't know why but he got surprised by that, it was obvious he'd do that since his shift had finished. An older man came in with a bunch of keys in his hands. There were no more costumers inside. Megan, Cynthia and Louis started. They were all with their normal clothes now. He just followed Louis behind, with the CD's bag in his hand without saying anything. 

The man with the keys closed the door with a lock. He turned to them and waved his hand before leaving. 

"See you next week" said nicely Megan and left. 

"Of course" Louis said with a smile. 

"Yeah, I'm leaving too. Bye Louis." Said Cynthia not in a really friendly way. She gave Harry a death glare before leaving and trying to catch up with Megan. 

The younger one frowned, confused about the situation, the older one noticed it, and tried to shift the mood. 

"Well, it's only you and me now." He said as he stood in front of him. "This is the first time we see each other outside the store" he let out a small chuckle and repeated it now motioning towards the store, "get it? Outside the store." He said, pointing out the meaning behind the sentence. 

Harry understood it right away. And in addition to what he was experiencing; the happiness of arriving on time, seeing him, that he was still with him despite he finished his shift, and the stupid joke made that he felt a shiver travel through all his body that he couldn't hold back the laughter. Unconsciously he started laughing. 

"You laughed!" He said extremely happy. "I can't believe it. Now you can't escape my amazing jokes. I'll make you laugh until your stomach is begging you to stop" Just in that moment, Louis' stomach started growling. "Speaking of stomaches..."

The curly haired trying to calm down from the laughter he wasn't used to, looked at him worried. The older one looked away as he was embarrassed of what he was about to say. 

"Umm... I didn't eat this morning. I was waiting for you to take my lunch time"

"I'm sorry!" he said upset. 

He felt really guilty, although it hadn't been his decision to go this late, he still felt guilty. Louis had been waiting for him to spend his break together. He repeated that in his head. Louis waited for him. He refused to eat just to wait for him. His heart started beating really fast. 

"It's okay, really." After he spoke, he pretended to be thinking. "I know of a way you can repay me" he said now more cheerfully. 

"How?" He was willing to do anything. 

"Come with me to eat something now." He said more serious. "Unless of course, you have something else to do."

It couldn't be true what he was hearing. He wasn't being nice just because he was a costumer, Louis really seemed to like him. And he couldn't understand why. He didn't have anything in particular to make people like him. However, Louis had fun with him and treated him like a person he had known his whole life. 

"I'll go with you" He replied a little shy. 

"Great!" He exclaimed, taking his wrist and beginning to walk quickly. "Come on, I know a good place."

Harry followed him behind and was praying Louis didn't notice his hand was shaking under his touch. Harry hated when other people besides his parents and sister touched him; but he was doing it in a natural way, really gentle that made him get goosebumps. He let go of his hand once they got to the escalator, heading to the second floor of the shopping mall. They walked to a restaurant in the fast food section, getting to the counter where a girl was taking orders. Louis ordered a cheeseburger with fries and a soda. 

"Do you want anything?"

"No, thank you"

"Sure? It's on me"

"Yes, I'm not really hungry."

Louis finished paying and they headed to a small table with two chairs from the many more that the restaurant had. They were sitting away from the rest of the people, sitting close to the glass that allowed them to see the people walking in the first floor. A few seconds after a waitress approached them with the food, he thanked her and started unwrapping his burger right away. 

"I was really hungry" He said as he started eating, "but it's okay, I think it was worth the wait." He said now sipping his drink. 

He couldn't take his eyes off Harry, making the green eyed boy to look away as he felt shy. Louis finished his burger and started eating the fries. 

"Woah, I love this song! Don't you?" He said as a song started playing in the background. 

"Yes, it's really good"

"WE'RE LEAVING TOGETHER!!!" He started singing out loud. 

"Shhh!"

Harry whispered, trying to hold back the laughter. He had noticed how some people started looking at them as Louis started singing, making him feel embarrassed but he couldn't help to think of the situation as hilarious. 

"Why do you want me to shut up? Am I a bad singer?" He said quivering his lower lip. He actually was just trying to make Harry laugh as much as possible with his stupid jokes. 

"It's not that" He said smiling so his dimples were popping out, making his eyes look smaller. 

"Then, I don't see the problem. IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!!" He said emphasizing the lyrics of the song. 

Harry was dying of embarrassment but he couldn't stop laughing. 

"Who the hell is singing really loud?" Asked Robin smiling. Him and Anne were walking by a toys store in the second floor, close to the fast food section. 

"I'm not sure, but it's really funny." She said, looking around, trying to find the owner of the voice. Soon her eyes were set on a brunette boy who was smiling widely, apparently he was the one singing. But her gaze was now on the person sitting across him. A curly haired boy who looked exactly like Harry. "Robin! Look! It's Harry" she whispered to her husband. 

"You've gone mad, woman, Harry doesn't sing"

"I'm not talking about that!" She mumbled, trying to get him to lower his tone too. "Harry is with that guy." 

The man glanced at the same point his wife was looking at and saw what she was talking about. Their son was sitting giving them his back so he couldn't see them. The other boy could see them but he wouldn't be able to know who they were. 

"Come on, let's get closer."

They got closer to them to listen the conversation, making sure to stay behind Harry so he didn't see them. 

"Are you sure you don't want some fries?"

"No, thank you"

His parents that were a few meters away didn't have the doubt anymore, it was definitely Harry's voice. It was him. 

"I have an idea!" He exclaimed. "Guess what animal I am!" The younger one furrowed his eyebrows as Louis took two fries and placed them in his mouth, each hanging on the corners of his lips. Harry smiled at him. 

"A walrus?"

"Well done!" He took out the fries and ate one, placing the other one on his forehead at a 90 degrees position. "Okay, what am I now?"

"An unicorn?" Harry couldn't erase the smile from his lips. 

"Correct. You are very smart. But I bet you won't guess this one." He placed the fry between his lips and his nose in a horizontal way. 

The younger one stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to guess and admiring Louis' face. 

"I don't know"

"A man with a mustache" He ate the fry. 

"That's not an animal!"

"That's what YOU think!"

Harry couldn't stop laughing. He just couldn't. He had never been this happy in his life. Louis besides being perfect, he was extremely hilarious, no one could make him feel the way he did. 

Anne heard him laugh and the tears started streaming down her face. She felt really proud, extremely happy. Her little boy was laughing like there was no tomorrow. She hooked her arm in her husband's and headed over to the restrooms, she was a mess. 

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Louis asked once he finished his food. The younger one felt a sudden excitement. 

"Actually, I should look for my parents."

"I understand, maybe some other day." He said smiling, "see you next Saturday."

"Yes." He said, giving him the last smile and watching him leave. 

Harry sighed deeply, this boy was pure perfection. Once he disappeared from his gaze, he started looking for his parents. He found them outside the restrooms, not too far away from the fast food section where he was a couple minutes ago. When he reached them, he noticed his dad with a proud smile on his face and his mom with red eyes and a smile. He furrowed his eyebrows confused. They looked extremely happy, more than they used to be. 

"Did you have fun today, son?" Robin asked. 

"Yes" he answered with a small smile as he remembered the time he spent with Louis. 

"I'm glad to hear that, darling." His mom said, tears threatening to stream down her face. 

—  
"What? Are you sure, Anne?"

"It's just how I'm telling you, Stella. I saw it with my own eyes, Robin was there too. We heard him laugh."

"When was last time Harry laughed?"

"I can't remember, it was really long ago. When he was still really young."

"People who have the same problem as Harry usually make slow advances, if they even get to do so. But Harry the past two months has made a huge progress. Have you helped him?"

"Sadly, no. I have no idea how to help my son. He has done everything on his own."

"I'm not sure. Do you know what could have caused him to laugh?"

Anne stayed silent for a few seconds. Of course she knew it. 

"Anne?"

"Him."

"Him?"

"The CDs boy."

"What do you know about him?"

"Not much. He works at the mall, Harry goes to that store every Saturday. Apparently, his name is Louis. Last Saturday there was a change of plans so he almost didn't go. I swear he was about to have a panic attack."

"Do you know him?"

"Just saw him from a few meters of distance, he doesn't seem like a bad guy."

"I think we're already adults and it's not necessary to tell you that Harry is really interested in that boy."

Those words were thrown at her like a bucket of cold water. She had suspected it for a long time, but she needed someone else to confirm, and it happened. Regardless that, she would support him no matter what. 

"I thought so." She sighed, "what do you suggest me to do?"

"There's not much to do. It's more than clear that if Harry is progressing is because he is willing to, and it requires motivation. If you took that motivation from him, he would probably go back to the way he was or get even worse. Make sure that doesn't happen."

"I understand."


	6. Part Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my fellow readers, I hope you are enjoying the story! Sadly, there is just two parts left. Ahh, are you ready? I hope you are. Let me know what you think in the comments! :D

The next day Harry was doubtful whether what time he should go see Louis, to go during his lunch time or until the end of his shift. Last week after what happened, it had been the best experience of his life, but he didn't want Louis to be hungry; on the other hand, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Louis. He also didn't know if he would want to spend time with him after work. He had thought of many possibilities, but at the end he decided to go around five in the afternoon. Hoping Louis would eat without him, and that he would invite him to spend time together when he finished his shift. He was risking a lot of lost time in hopes of something good to happen without knowing if it'd happen, but he felt the need to.   
Approximately half an hour before the store closed, Harry walked in. Louis smiled when he saw him and looked away when he approached him. 

"So?" He asked with a grin, "are you going to accept that a man with a mustache is an animal?"

"Never." He replied with a smile. 

They had a small chitchat and made the usual purchase of the CD. At least Louis didn't look hungry, although he looked more tired than usual. Harry took the bag and held it tightly, perhaps what he expected wouldn't happen. He could barely stand it. 

"Well, see you next week." He said turning towards the door. 

"Wait!" Louis said quickly and the younger one's heart started racing. "Hmm... are you busy later today?" He said rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, I finish my shift in 20 minutes. We could hang out, if you want to, of course."

Harry thought he'd explode of the happiness he was feeling. He barely knew how to remain calm. He turned to face him and looked at him with a special glow on his eyes. 

"I would love to."

Both of them gave each other wide smiles, staring at each other like idiots. Cynthia rolled her eyes in annoyance and headed somewhere else; Megan laughed a little at the scene. 

Louis led Harry to the employees room and told him to wait there a few minutes until he finished his shift. He did. It was really awkward, to be sitting there alone waiting. Every few minutes he saw how one of them walked in to wrap a purchase. The brunette looked at him with disgust, which was quite intimidating. The blonde one gave him a few smiles. Louis, well, they exchanged random words every time they saw each other. 

Once the twenty minutes passed, the three of them entered the room. 

"I'll change first. I'm on a rush." Megan said. 

They entered the restroom one by one to change from their uniform to their casual clothes, warm ones due to the cold weather. 

Once they went outside, the man closed the store. They said their goodbyes and everyone went different ways. 

"Shall we go?" He asked smiling. 

"Yes."

Harry was really nervous, they were alone once again, just him and the perfection in person. 

They walked at the same pace. Harry following Louis behind as best as he could. He was confused when he realized they were walking to the exit of the mall. And they did walk out. He decided not to ask questions and limited himself to follow him. They walked through the parking lot towards the building across the shopping mall. Louis suddenly stopped, the younger one imitating him. 

"Do you like this place?"

Harry looked around, noticing it was a well known cafeteria that had been there for a few years. The place had a good reputation and the environment was calm. Although he'd say yes to any place he suggested. 

"Yes."

They went inside, Harry looking everything around them. Even though everything was calling out his attention, he would always think Louis was more beautiful and brighter. They sat down, one across the other, right next to the window from which you could see the rest of the building. They put their coats and the small bag aside. The lightning of the place was plain, not bright and blinding like the one at the mall. There wasn't too many people either, the place was calm and cozy. Harry was thankful for that. Louis took one of the menus and started scanning the items they sold.

"I think I'll order a medium size coffee and two muffins, a chocolate one and one with fruits. What about you?" He asked smiling. 

"I'll have the same."

"Sure? You don't want anything else?"

"No."

"Alright."

A friendly waiter approached their table to take their order. Louis made sure to order for them. 

"Okay, it'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Louis said nicely. 

Once the woman walked away, he yawned covering his mouth with his hand. The younger one took the chance to start a conversation. 

"Are you sleepy?" He asked a little shy. 

"Yeah, that's why I ordered coffee. Yesterday the boys and I stayed up playing Rock n' Roll Racing. They cleaned up with me, videogames aren't my thing."

"The boys?" He asked curiously, hinting some jealousy. 

"Yes, we went to Niall's place. His house is huge. It was supposed to be a boys night, but Liam brought his girlfriend along. I have nothing against her but she didn't fit with us and she got bored most of the time. I was upset for other issue. Zayn kept for almost six months my favorite Pink Floyd CD and when he finally gave it back, while listening I noticed it was glitching at some songs, obviously he refused to take the blame. But well, I'm not going to get mad at one of my best friends for a material thing."

Harry observed Louis, admiring how he talked about his friends. It was noticeable that they meant a lot to him. He felt bad thinking he wouldn't talk about him like that to someone else. After all, there wasn't anything interesting to say about him. He was even surprised he wasn't ashamed to be seen with him. 

"Here you have your order, enjoy it."

"Thank you."

They began eating their muffins, and they sipper their coffees every once in a while. They were silent while they ate, but it wasn't an awkward silence. They exchanged a few random comments like they used to. Every few, Harry would look up to watch Louis eat, just to admire him. In more than once they looked into each other's eyes, Louis looked at him smiling, making him look away, shy. 

"Do you live far from here?" Louis said after finishing his order, as he looked out the window, noticing it was getting dark. Days seemed short since it was Autumn, due to the lack of sunlight. 

"Not really."

"Can I walk you home?" Harry swallowed. 

"Sure, if you want to."

"Here's your bill." Said the woman, interrupting once again. 

Harry searched in his pocket, trying to find his money but Louis called his attention. 

"Don't you dare!" He warned. "I invited you, so I'm paying."

"But..."

"I'm not accepting a no for answer."

The younger one played with his fingers nervously, having to give in to let Louis pay for him. That was quite awkward. 

The older boy thanked the waiter and walked out with Harry. The temperature had dropped, it was really cold. Very few people were walking around there. Luckily, both were wearing warm clothes. Harry had his gray beanie, and Louis a pair of black gloves. They crossed the street and they started walking past the mall, but Louis suddenly stopped. Harry stopped too, and watched him closely. The sky was completely dark now. The lamps were on, making a bright aureole around them due to the fog. Louis stared up at the sky, watching the small snowflakes falling from the sky. 

"The nights in London are beautiful, don't you think so?"

"Yes" he replied, although he wasn't necessarily referring to the beauty of the night.

"Tell me Harry, what is your favorite season of the year?" He said, now looking at him with a smile on his face. 

Harry thought carefully, he didn't really care about the seasons. He lived locked inside his house thanks to his stupid illness. The only thing that changed were the clothes he wore to his therapies or family reunions. But he met Louis in Autumn, a good enough excuse to make it his favorite season. 

"Autumn."

"Mine too! Do you want to know why?" He smiled even more. 

"Yes."

Then the older one pointed at the leaves on the floor, around the trees. 

"Since I was a kid I always liked playing with the dried leaves" He said walking on the grass and the leaves as he motioned to Harry so he came closer. "These are wet, so they don't make a lot of noise when you step on them, but it's one of my favorite things, I know it sounds stupid, but it's the truth."

Louis looked around, making sure no one was watching and he shook the tree with a lot of force, making that many dried leaves fell from it. Accumulating around their feet. He kneeled, taking a few and throwing them at Harry. The younger one covered himself quickly, making Louis laugh a little. 

"Relax, they won't hurt you."

Harry uncovered his face, noticing how the leaves hit him inoffensively. 

"I would never hurt you." He said now more serious. 

Harry swallowed and decided to play along. After all they were sharing one of his favorite things, and that made him feel special. 

He took a bunch of leaves from the floor, throwing them at Louis, who did the same thing. And after that they had started a small leaves fight. Both were breathing heavily but they never erased the smiles from their faces, a few chuckles escaping their lips. Harry was having fun like he had never before, but he stumbled, tripping over something and falling on top of Louis. 

Louis laid on the grass on a pile of dried leaves, not making any move with Harry on top of him. The younger one started worrying when he saw him with his eyes closed and expressionless. He shook him by his shoulders slightly to make him respond but nothing happened. He was starting to freak out. 

"Louis?" He said with worry in his voice, leaning in closer.

"Boo!" Louis exclaimed as he opened his eyes once he felt Harry's breath closer to his face. 

"Ahhh!" Harry screamed, jumping backwards and landing on a pile of leaves. 

Louis was laughing out loud. 

"I'm sorry" he said, unable to stop laughing.

"You scared me!" He threw leaves at him. He tried to act mad, but he couldn't top the fright he just experienced. 

"I'm really sorry, I couldn't contain myself." He said smiling after getting hit by the bunch of leaves. "I'm sorry, please don't get mad" He said, pouting his lips. 

Harry sighed. He couldn't get mad at Louis, even if he was an idiot. In fact, Harry loved when Louis acted like an idiot. Harry loved every little thing about Louis. Harry loved Louis. 

"I'm not mad." He mumbled. 

"Thank you. Come here." He said getting up, offering his hand to Harry to help him up. "If we stay on the grass, our clothes will get wet and we'll catch a cold. We don't want that, do we?"

"No" he said somewhat doubtful before taking his hand. His heart was racing although they didn't touch directly. 

Both brushed the dirt off their clothes, and they continued walking. Harry was now leading the way since Louis didn't know the way to his house. The older one noticed how Harry took his hands out of his pockets, placing them in front of his mouth to blow some warm air to them. 

"Harry" he said stopping, making the other one to copy him and look at him. "Here" he said taking off his gloves and handing them to him, "wear them."

Harry stared at the gloves and then looked up at him frowning. 

"No." It was the first time Harry refused to one of Louis' petitions. 

"Come on, take them." 

"No."

"Harry, please. Take them. Your hands must be freezing."

"No, you'll be cold."

"It doesn't matter."

When he heard that, Harry crossed his arms and put a mad expression on his face. Not like the one he had earlier, one really mad. Louis didn't like the idea of Harry getting mad at him.

"I'm serious Harry, I don't want you to be cold."

"I don't want YOU to be cold."

They stood there a few second, staring at each other and freezing. Neither seemed about to surrender. But each minute that passed the night was getting darker and colder. They needed to get to something. 

"Would you hold my hand?" He asked softly, kind of shy. 

"What?" He asked with the same tone. 

"We both wear a glove in one hand and with our free hand we hold each other's to keep them warm." Louis seemed a little nervous as he talked. "I mean... it's the only solution I came up with. It's dark, no one would notice, what do you say?"

"Fine." He replied with nervousness after a few seconds. 

Louis clumsily grabbed his right hand's glove and handed it to Harry who took it with shaky hands from the cold and the nervousness. Each put on the gloves and Louis extended his free hand to him. Harry swallowed, nervous as he took Louis' hand. They pressed their hands against each other's to try and keep them as warm as possible. Louis smiled and the younger one smiled back shyly. They started walking again; but now more silently than before. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was the opposite. Words weren't needed in that moment. Like the only thing that mattered was to feel the warmth of the touch from the other, feel the smoothness of their hands, their fingers touching. They stayed like that, with lots of thoughts going on their heads. Harry couldn't believe he was walking hand in hand with Louis. The boy he couldn't stop thinking about. It was like in the romance movies he watched with his mom sometimes, but this was real. It had no comparison. 

After walking all the way to his house, Harry stopped in front of some black gates that lead to a really beautiful white house with some blue roof. He sighed, giving Louis' hand a squeeze before letting go of his grasp slowly, making them both feel every small touch. He opened the gate with his keys but he didn't go in.

"Thank you" he said wanting to look away, but he made an effort to make eye contact, remembering Louis' request. "Thanks for walking me home." Louis smiled. 

"You're welcome, Harry. It was my pleasure. Thanks for going to the cafeteria with me." The younger one shook his head, smiling big enough for his dimples to show and biting his bottom lip. "Harry..." He said now serious, making him look at him the same way. They stayed still for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to speak when..

"Harry!!!!"

A desperate voice yelled before the door opened and a woman ran over to the gate. She hugged her son tightly, with her black hair covering her face and Harry's face pressed to her chest. Harry didn't make a sound since his mother was the only person he allowed to have that type of physical contact. Well, almost the only one. 

"I was really worried!!" She said, worry in her voice and with tears in her eyes. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Please don't get mad at him, it was my fault." He said at the scene and realizing the trouble he had caused. 

Anne didn't even notice there was someone else in there. She gazed up, looking at Louis who looked at her with guilt in his eyes. Harry pulled away from her grasp on his own and stared down at the floor like a kid that had just been scolded. Anne knew exactly who that boy was but she pretended not to know. 

"And you are...?"

"Louis" he cleared his throat, "Louis Tomlinson. I'm Harry's friend." Harry stared at him after hearing those words, he had called himself his friend. "I'm really sorry he got home late, it won't happen again. Please don't get mad at him." He asked again. 

Anne sighed. "Make sure it doesn't happen again."

 

"Yes ma'am, I'm sorry. So you're not mad at Harry, right?" He asked hopeful. 

Anne laughed a little. That boy was really charismatic, he talked a lot and she thought it was cute he worried a lot about her son. 

"No, Louis, I'm not mat at Harry."

"Did you hear that?!" He looked at Harry with a wide smile. 

Harry wanted to hold back his laughter, but failed. His mom couldn't be any happier about that. Louis got confident really easily. He could brighten the mood, regardless how serious it was. 

"Well, I guess I have to go. It's getting late." He said scratching the back of his head. "Nice to meet you Miss... Harry's mom."

"Anne. You can call me Anne." She said with a smile. 

"Nice to meet you, Anne. See you later, Harry." He said turning around. 

"Louis!" He exclaimed loudly, making Louis and his mom look at him. He walked towards him as he took off the glove and handed it to him. 

"Oh. Thank you, I almost forgot about it." He said, putting it on. "But.." He leaned in closer to Harry's ear, "I think your hand is even warmer than the glove." He whispered and gave him a bright smile. 

Harry stared at him with his lips parted, watching him leave.   
Anne watched him with a frown in her face. 

"Come inside, son. It's cold." But Harry only went inside once he lost sight of Louis. "Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Okay, you can skip dinner if you want."

"I'm sorry for getting home late." He felt guilty, but he didn't regret anything. 

Once Harry was in his room, after putting the CD of the day inside the box, he was laying in bed just staring at his hand. Trying to keep in mind the touch of Louis' hand in his. His words kept repeating in his head. Every moment of this afternoon kept replaying in his mind repeatedly. 

"I guess this is what they call being in love", he thought before falling asleep.


	7. Part Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost the end of the story! I hope you are enjoying it and if you like it share it and leave some kudos. :)

After a long week waiting, Harry went to the mall. This time he went by the time of his lunch break because last week Louis invited him to eat lunch with him. 

Harry went inside and he was surprised to see Louis talking excitedly with some guy. He looked really happy, the way he did with him. He thought he was special to Louis, and seeing he wasn't the only person he treated like that, hurt him in a way. He though of leaving the place, run out so he didn't have to see that scene. But he finally decided to walk to them with fear. But Louis didn't see him approach them and went to the warehouse. Harry reached the boy, staring at him and the guy looked back at him, examining him. 

"Hmm? You must be Harry" he said with a smile. Harry parted his lips and clenched his fists. How did this guy know his name? "Louis has talked a lot about you" the curly haired felt his heart racing. "I'm Niall" he introduced himself, extending his hand but he didn't get any response from him. "Oh right, I forgot you're a little shy".

Harry couldn't believe it. He no longer felt bad, he was one of Louis' friends that he told him about. But the most surprising part is that he had talked about him with other people. After all, Louis was amazing, funny and sociable. Louis was perfect, and he was just, him. There wasn't any reason to talk about him since he wasn't interesting, however, Louis did it. 

"Harry!" Louis said excitedly when he saw he arrived during his little trip to the warehouse. "It's so good to see you. I see you met each other. This is Niall, he rarely says something coherent, so don't listen to him", he said jokingly. 

"Hey!" The blonde one whined, and Harry smiled. 

"Here it is, it's the one you wanted, right?" He said putting on the counter a guitar he had in his hand. 

"Yes it is, isn't it the most beautiful guitar you ever seen?"

"I still think it's a lot of money for a guitar".

Harry then looked at the price tag hanging on it and widened his eyes. It was a guitar from the best brand in the music market. It seemed like Louis wasn't kidding when he said Niall's family were wealthy. 

"It's my Christmas present for getting good grades, shut up. Here, charge it from here". He said handing him a credit card.

While Louis carrie out the purchase, the blonde wouldn't stop staring at Harry, who started to feel uncomfortable. 

"Louis said you were cute, but I didn't think he really meant it".

Harry took a deep breath and froze, while Louis was astonished, not knowing what to do. Carelessly, he dropped the card and he picked it up, trying to swipe it in the card reader to make the purchase. After at least three failed attempts, he finally managed to swipe the card correctly. 

"Seems like someone's nervous", Niall said with a cheeky smile. 

"Niall shut your fucking mouth. Take your damn card." He said mad, and with clumsy movements and his cheeks with a bright shade of pink. The blonde one started laughing out loud. 

Harry just couldn't believe it. He had never seen Louis react like that. Nervous, embarrassed, responding that way and moving clumsily. That was how he use to react, he didn't think Louis would act that way sometimes. But that wasn't important. Had he really said that about him? Just the thought made him draw a small smile on his lips. 

"Do you need anything else?"

"Seems like someone wants me gone already" he teased, obtaining a glare from Louis. "No, that's it for now". He took the bag with the box of the big and expensive guitar. "See you tonight. Tell your mom to make brownies, they're the best in town. Bye Harry, nice to meet you. Don't forget to congratulate Louis". He said as he left the place. 

"Congratulate?" He asked confused, looking at the door where the blonde boy disappeared from and then looking at Louis with his eyebrows furrowed. 

Louis sighed. 

"He finally left. Time for my break".

They walked to the employees room, Harry still confused and nervous from the blonde guy. He followed Louis to the small kitchen there, Louis turned to look at Louis with a wide smile. 

"Today is my birthday".

Harry stood speechless. He didn't know when it was his birthday, and finding out all of sudden felt like a bucket with freezing cold water was thrown at him. When Harry managed to get out of his shocking state, he looked at the floor with a pout on his lips. 

"I didn't get you anything". He said embarrassed. 

The older one thought he'd die of cuteness in that moment. Harry didn't know how cute he could be. 

"Don't worry about that. It's okay. You don't have to get me anything. Besides, you didn't know it was my birthday".

Harry just ignored his words. But he suddenly got an idea. He took the gray beanie that was covering his head and offered it to Louis with trembling hands. 

"I can't accept that" he said shaking his head. 

"You don't like it?" He said distressed. 

"Of course I like it! I've liked it since the first time I saw you with it"

"Take it. It's your present"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

Louis couldn't say no to any petition from Harry because of his trembling hands, his messy curls after taking off the beanie and the puppy eyes he had in that moment. He reached him slowly, taking the beanie, brushing their hands. He stepped closer to him, raising his arms and wrapping them around Harry slowly, resting his head in his shoulder and looking at the opposite side of his neck. Harry stood still without being able to hug back. No one apart from his family had ever hugged him, and even that they were really few times. He hated the contact with others. But Louis was really gentle, he had some relaxing and confident vibes although he was hyperactive and loud all the time. The physical contact with Louis didn't bother him since the beginning. It didn't just not bother him. He liked it. He really liked it. Louis pulled away from the embrace, looking at him with a wide smile. 

"Thank you so much, Harry. I love my present." He said as he fixed Harry's messy locks of hair. "It smells like you, I guess that's a bonus", he laughed. 

The curly haired felt like dying. Every touch from Louis sent thousands of electric shocks through all his body. Managing to make him shiver with a really gentle touch. He felt like a cat melting in the stroking of its owner. 

"Come"

They walked to the table next to the chairs. Once Harry was seated, Louis told him to hold on a few seconds. He went to the small fridge and came back with a big food recipient. When he opened it, it revealed a decent amount of brownies inside of it. 

"These are the best brownies in town, according to Niall" he quoted with sarcasm in his voice. "It's not the big deal. But they really are delicious. I would like you to try them. Look," he said giving him a small brownie on a plate "this one has your name, it's the only one I decorated myself".

Harry looked at the brownie, it had his name in a really neat handwriting. He couldn't help but smile. The other ones only had a few birthday messages or drawings. The fact it made him feel special, made him feel alive. Not feel special as acting like an idiot in front of people; but special in a good way thanks to Louis.

"And what would be a birthday without these?!" He exclaimed with excitement as he took out two candles with the numbers one and nine from a small bag. 

He placed them on his brownie, making sure they didn't fall. He took a lighter, lighting both candles. He stared at them for a few seconds.

"You know? It feels odd blowing the candles without someone singing that stupid birthday song before" he laughed. 

Harry felt a big guilty for that. He started playing with his fingers nervously, nibbling on his lip. And he moved uncomfortable in his seat. Maybe if he did what he was thinking about, it might make Louis happy. Although there was a possibility he might ruin things. But like every moment with Louis, Harry ignored his thoughts and let himself go. 

"Happy birthday to you..." He started mumbling slowly in the typical rhythm of the song. He stared blankly at the table. He could feel Louis' eyes on him. 

He finished the song and didn't dare to look up at Louis. It was the first time in his life he ever sang a song, doesn't matter how short or silly it was. 

"I can't believe you jus did that for me" Harry gazed up, seeing the excitement in Louis' face. "The best gifts aren't always materialistic. Thank you, Harry, really."

"You're supposed to make a wish", he said shyly, pointing at the candles. 

The older one looked at the candles a shortly before he gazed back at Harry and leaned forward to blow the candles without looking away. He blowed the candles until the small flames disappeared, leaving the smoke fade in the air. 

Harry really felt curious for what kind of wish Louis thought of, but he knew perfectly the saying that if you tell someone it won't become true. He took the small spoon, taking a small piece of the brownie. He tasted it and it was definitely the most delicious thing he'd ever had. 

"Niall was right." He said once he finished his brownie. 

"What do you mean?"

"Best brownies in town".

 

Harry got home that afternoon, with the usual bag from the store in his hand like every saturday. He had his hair messed up from the wind on the streets. 

"Hey sweetheart", his mom greeted him warmly. "I'm glad you're home early, I'm making some tea. Do you want a cup?"

"Alright" he said as he cleaned his shoes at the entrance's rug and took off his coat. His mother furrowed her eyebrows. 

"Harry" he looked at her, "where is your beanie?"

The boy swallowed his spit nervously. 

"Louis". He said looking away. 

"Louis took it away from you?" She asked confused. 

Harry quickly shook his head and responded without hesitation. 

"I gave it to him. Today was his birthday".

"Oh I see, that's really nice of you." She said with a wide smile although she was really surprised. "I'll get you another one".

—

"How are you feeling today?" She asked while writing on her notepad like every friday. 

"Good".

The doctor just nodded her head and continued writing. It was a routine question, asking it every session helped her notice any changes in Harry's behavior. To that question she got shrugging and head gestures for a couple years, but the last few sessions he had started talking more and said he was alright. 

She remembered what Anne told her about the first time Harry gave a present to someone, she decided to get him to talk about it. 

"Tell me Harry, have you tried doing something new these days? You know, there is always a first time for everything. Something that, I don't know, you had never done before."

Harry stayed silent for a long while. Stella noticed how he had something to say, every time that happened the first thing that popped in her mind was to encourage him to talk about it. 

"Singing" he said after a few minutes. 

"Singing? Wow, that is something really new. It's a nice hobby, isn't it? I'm sure you have a lovely voice". 

After the session Anne expressed her worries to Stella since Harry's grades were getting lower. 

"That is totally normal" She tried to calm her down. "Not only it is normal, but it's good. Look, Harry didn't have anything else to think about and that's why he focused on his studies, but if he's no longer giving them his full attention, it means there is something that is interesting him more. It's the typical behavior of a teenager, you hear me? It's something everyone does. Harry not being the exception is something really, really good. You should be happy about it".

"I think you are right. But you know, I can't help it but worry"

"Don't worry, that's what I'm here for. By the way Anne," she interrupted her before she left the room, "do you know anything about a song?"

—

Harry just couldn't believe it. His face had brightened as soon as he entered the store without even noticing. His gaze was on the figure of that beautiful boy like every Saturday. But this time something had changed, something that made him blissful. Louis, the perfection in person, was wearing the gray beanie that he gifted him the past week. He was fixing some papers on the counter. He always looked relaxed, like he didn't worry about things. As if being in a good mood was really normal for him. He approached him without holding back his stupid smile like a teenager that was in love. He thought that, maybe, it would be right for him to be the one breaking the ice. 

"Nice beanie" He said a little shy by his comment. 

The most beautiful sky blue eyes met his own, green eyes like as the most fresh grass. Like always, the world seemed to fade away around them. 

"Thank you, I got it on my birthday from someone really important to me."

Harry couldn't take this much cuteness. His face. His voice. Why did he have to be so gentle?

"Come, there's hot cocoa in the kitchen".

Once they were in the kitchen, both were holding a cup of hot cocoa in their hands. It was delicious. Louis was sitting on the counter, with his legs on the air. Harry, on the other hand, was sitting on a chair. Louis really liked to tilt the cup enough to leave a mark of chocolate over his lip, faking a mustache, and then licking it. Just to see how Harry laughed at him. 

"You know..." He said breaking the silence that wasn't awkward at all. "I really wanted to wear the beanie since the moment you gave it to me. But since it wasn't part of the store's uniform, I thought it might cause me trouble. But I talked to Mr Smith during the week, and he said there wasn't any problem".

"I'm glad you liked it"

"You..." He said but stopped midway, taking a sip of the hot and sweet beverage. 

"What?"

Louis shook his head, with a small smile forming on his lips as he looked down. 

The calming silence tensed up a bit right then. They stayed in silence for a few minutes while they finished the hot cocoa. Surprisingly, Harry was the one to break the silence. 

"The doctor Beasley says I've gotten better"

The older one furrowed his eyebrows slightly, leaving his cup aside as he concentrated on every word from the curly haired. 

"Who is that?" He asked as calmly as he could. 

"She is my psychologist"

Okay, this could be like a before and after of his relationship with Harry. For the first time since they met, he felt like he was trusting him with something really personal to him. Something important. He was really happy about it. As usual, he wasn't going to push him to talk about it. 

"Three months ago..." he took deep breaths to talk, since talking a lot wasn't something he was used to, but with Louis it just flowed naturally. "I barely spoke. Very few short words a day. Sometimes a week. But that changed, thanks to you."

Louis' heart was beating really fast happily. 

"I'm sure the merit is all yours, Harry"

"No!" He exclaimed, surprising Louis. "Really, I would like it if there was a way to thank you".

Louis couldn't stop looking at him fondly. He could see the sincerity in his eyes. Looking into his eyes was like seeing all of him. Each word coming from his heart. What he was about to ask him was crazy. 

"There is a way"

"Tell me what it is" He pleaded.

Louis bit his lip, holding back the stupid thoughts he had in his mind. 

"My favorite song"

"I don't understand"

"Remember the expensive guitar Niall bought for Christmas?"

"Yes"

"Well, he already had a guitar before. So now he owns two guitars, and these last days he's been teaching me how to play it to take it home and practice. Do you know the song, losing my religion?"

 

"Yes"

"That's my favorite song, I've been practicing and I'll continue but something that would make me really happy would be if you sing it with me"

Harry stared him with wide eyes. "I don't think I could do it..." he said, squirming uncomfortably on the chair. 

"Of course you can, if you want to thank me for something you are sure I did; this is the best way".

"We would sing it together?"

"From beginning to end, together".

Harry thought about it for a long while. A nervous shiver went down his spine. That was definitely, the most difficult thing he'd been asked. He was trembling. The thought of not being able to do it was in his mind all the time, it didn't leave him alone. Meanwhile, he heard a faint echo. The voice of his inner self, telling him he could do it. That he wouldn't disappoint Louis. That he could make him proud of him. He could thank him for what he'd done. He took a deep breath into his lungs. 

"I'll do it" he said exhaling, and with his eyes closed, trying to process what he just said. 

"You will?" He asked eagerly. 

Harry, after seeing the expression on his face knew it was the right decision to make. 

"Yes".

"I can't believe it! Thank you so much!" He got off the counter in one jump, "I'm not really good yet, but I will get better, I promise. I'll practice for hours if it's necessary. It will be my New Year's resolution. By the way, Happy New Year, Harry! I know I'm saying before but you know".

Harry bit his lip, smiling as he looked at Louis who was euphoric. The excitement in Louis' face was touching. He was worried of not being able to do it, but Louis kept repeating himself that he was going to keep practicing. He would take it as an exercise of self-improvement. One they would do together. For themselves and each other. 

"Happy New Year, Louis".


	8. Part eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So there is just one part left. This part is shorter, the last part is quite lengthy but I can't include it on the same as this. If you are triggered by the character death, after this part just read part TEN. Part NINE will include the death of a character. All love x

Harry sighed deeply before going inside the store that day. No one could predict what would happen. Long hours practicing singing when he was home alone. Frustration attacks. Stomachaches due to nervousness. Lack of sleep. Sometimes it seemed pointless how much effort he was putting into such silliness, but then he suddenly remembered Louis' face and what it'd mean to him, and then everything seemed to make sense. 

He saw Louis with a costumer, so he waited until he was done to say hello. 

"Do you still want to do it?" He asked. He had a smile on his face, but you didn't have to be a genius to know he'd feel really bad if he got a no for an answer. 

"Yes" he said shyly, it wasn't the time to back down. 

Louis smiled, biting his bottom lip, trying to hide the enormous happiness he was feeling in that moment. 

"Come" he said gently taking his hand, without making a harsh movement. 

They didn't go in the employees room like usual, they headed to the back, into the storage room. It was full of boxed that were piled in an organized way. They were organized by the type of instrument, label and size. It was a huge room. Louis closed the door after going in and locked it. 

"This way we can relax without getting interrupted. I chose this place because it's big and quiet. The walls are soundproof, so no one can hear us and we can't hear them".

Harry paid attention, and indeed it was really silent. The noise from the mall couldn't be heard not even a little. 

"I also asked Megan and Cynthia to cover my time a bit longer today. So we can enjoy the moment. You know, no rush"

Harry smiled. Louis was really making an effort for this. The walked towards a pair of chairs that were across each other more further into the storage room. Against one of the chairs there was a beige and brown guitar, that was a bit worn out due to the constant use. He supposed it was Niall's old guitar. Louis took it in his hands and sat on the chair, placing the guitar on his lap. Harry took a seat in front of him, his fingers were dug on his knees and he was trembling a bit. He couldn't ruin it. 

"Relax", Louis' mellifluous voice said, "you'll do well. Trust me".

The younger one barely managed to nod, still really nervous. 

"Let me check that everything is okay". 

He touched a few chords with his long and delicate fingers, these emitting short sounds. Louis was really nervous, but he acted confidently to transmit that confidence to Harry so he wouldn't tense up. 

"Alright, are you ready?" He asked with a smile

"Yes" he said and he quickly licked his lips so they wouldn't get dry. This action was noticed by the older one, who mimicked him.

Louis snapped his fingers and cleared his throat. He started playing the guitar. Soft and sweet sounds started making the acoustic melody of the song. Harry felt a lump in his throat. Although the atmosphere was relaxing him. He had never been so isolated from the world with someone else, he was always inside his own thoughts, by himself. But now it was different. Peace and tranquility at it's purest form, shared with Louis. His favorite person. His Louis. 

—Oh... life, is bigger  
it's bigger than you and you are not me

Both felt a shiver travel their bodies at the sound of them singing together. They were singing at a slower pace than the original song, but they felt the same excitement with every word that escaped their lips. It was overwhelming how they were on sync without even trying. Harry's deep, raspy voice mixed with Louis' high pitched voice, were there two more opposite things? But opposites attract. The way their voices contrasted was amazing. They started singing the song without looking at each other, Louis focused on the guitar; Harry focused on the floor, trying to understand and organize his thoughts about how he felt. 

At a small guitar solo, both looked up, their eyes meeting. From that moment they couldn't take their eyes off each other. 

—But that was just a dream...

The song became more passionate every second. They put more emphasis in each line. Like the whole world was judging their way of singing in that moment. But no, they were just singing to each other. 

—But that was just a dream  
That's me in the corner

Louis couldn't be more thankful of what he was seeing in that moment: Harry's expressions as he sang from deep into his soul, his lips moving really fast, all the gestures in his face, his deep voice hitting every note correctly; he swore he could even see a vein marked on his neck, he even moved his hands as he could not contain the excitement. 

Harry had left his fears to the side. Feat did not exist when Louis was with him. The fear of getting judged, of failing, all that faded away when he focused on those sky blue eyes. He always knew Louis was the perfection in person, but hearing him sing made him have no doubt of it. 

The same adrenaline made Louis stand up without stopping playing the guitar. Harry imitated him almost at the same time. They gave a few short steps, getting closer without breaking the visual contact. 

—You try, cry, why, try...

They had finished singing a few centimeters from each other. It was indescribable what the sensation both of them felt in their veins. The song had ended. The last notes of the guitar were heard and that was it. 

Harry's chest went up and down quickly. Both were inhaling and exhaling heavily, trying to understand what had just happened. From that magical environment which had been created just for the both of them. They could notice the sparkle in the eyes of the other from the excitement. 

Louis crouched down, leaving the guitar on the side against the chair before he stood back up to lock his eyes on Harry's. They felt as if they were two magnets, unable to look away from each other. They didn't want to. They couldn't. 

 

Louis rose his arms at the height of Harry's waist, wrapping his arms around it in a strong, warm embrace. Even more than the one on his birthday. And this time it was different. Louis rested his head in the crook of Harry's neck, with his nose touching his soft skin. Harry could feel Louis' breath against his neck and his only reflex was to return the hug. Tugging his large hands in the back of the older one, wrinkling the fabric of his uniform. 

"Thank you so much, Harry" electric shivers traveled down his spine at the sound of that words getting mumbled really close to his ear. "Thank you for singing my favorite song with me. Thank you for everything". 

"I..." he swallowed with difficulty thanks to the lump in his throat. "I should be the one thanking you. Thank you, Louis. You helped me see what I was capable of".

Although Harry couldn't see Louis' face, he knew he was smiling. After a few seconds, Louis looked up without breaking the embrace. They were so close, and their eyes said a thousand things their mouths didn't. 

Louis rose one of his hands, placing it on Harry's cheek and caressing his skin gently. He felt as if he was touching the purest and most beautiful porcelain from a piece of art. Everything in Harry was so different. Not because of his peculiarities at talking, but because of what he transmitted when someone was near him. Something pure, neat, innocent. 

He examined with his big round green eyes, every detail of the face from the boy with blue eyes. While every single sensation of his body were gathered on his cheek, under Louis' warm touch. 

Louis began leaning in closer to Harry's static body. He did it painfully slow. Without breaking eye contact, just to glance shortly at Harry's pink lips. 

The younger one saw him get closer, and the idea of pulling away did not cross his mind. He got so close, to the point a mere centimeters separated their lips. Their noses were touching and they felt the warm breathe of the other against their mouths. 

But Louis stopped, biting hard on his bottom lip. He tilted his head to the side, to Harry's cheek that he didn't have his hand on, he closed his eyes tightly and pressed a kiss to the corner of the younger one's lips.

Harry closed his eyes too, letting himself go from the feeling that Louis' kiss transmitted. It was something warm; more as if Harry's heart was burning inside his chest. It burnt. But it felt good. Louis' lips against his lips. They stayed like that for a few seconds until Louis broke the kiss slowly, going back to stare into his eyes and keeping the embrace they started before. The older one pulled away really slowly, letting his hands caress Harry's arms in a really short touch. 

"You sing beautifully", Louis finally mumbled, tucking a curl behind Harry's ear. 

"So do you" he spoke quietly, embarrassed from the compliment as he bit his lip. 

Everything had been so unreal, so perfect, like a dream. 

"We should go back", Louis said with a little disappointment in his voice. 

"Yes". He replied, looking away. 

 

Louis took the guitar which was on the floor and left it on one of the chairs. They headed to the exit and then into the store like usual. 

"Here's your change" he said, giving him a bill and a few coins right after Harry gave him the money to pay for the CD of the week. Louis barely got to caress Harry's hand with his fingers as he handed him the money, "I'll see you later".

"Yes" he said embarrassed, taking the bag with the CD inside and turning around. 

"Harry wait!" he said quickly, making the mentioned looked instantly at him. He couldn't explain the damn bitterness he had in his mouth in that moment, or maybe he could, but he didn't want to. 

The younger one walked a few steps back to face Louis. 

"Yes?"

"Will you come next Saturday?"

Harry got surprised from the question. He had been going to the store every single Saturday for the past three months. 

"I will"

Louis shook his head. He looked worried and Harry could not understand why. 

"Promise it" the younger one frowned, "I just... need you to promise that you'll come".

Harry tried to deduce what was worrying Louis so much out of nowhere, but as he could not imagine it, he limited himself to try to calm him down, to make him go back to normal. To the happy Louis with no worries. 

"I promise to come back next Saturday, Louis". He said in the softest and sincere tone. 

The older sighed and seemed more relaxed, but in his eyes it stayed what it looked like fear. 

"Thank you" he said trying to give his best smile. 

Harry on the other hand, gave him the widest smile full of angelic innocence, making his dimples pop out. 

Louis watched him leave. Just before crossing the door, he turned to give him the brightest smile drawn on his childlike face. He felt good. But he couldn't leave aside that pressure he felt on his chest.


	9. Part Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you get triggered by the character death, I advise you to wait for part ten!
> 
> Hello my fellow readers!! This is the last part of the story, I'm sorry I made you wait a while for it. I hope you enjoyed the story, and hope you wait until the alternate ending.

The next seven days were really long for Louis. Every minute. He couldn't take Harry off his mind. Everything that had happened. He needed to prepare himself for whatever was going to happen. He fixed his navy blue uniform, he wore the gray beanie that Harry had given him over his straight hair, and he headed to the shopping centre. 

"You're here early" the owner said as he opened the store to start that day's work. 

"Yeah, I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep" He said chuckling. In fact, he couldn't even get any sleep last night. 

The work shift had started. Louis tried to get himself busy so he couldn't think about Harry, but it was pointless. Every human figure that entered the store caught his attention immediately, hoping it would be him but it wasn't. 

It had been a while since the lunch break had ended and he wouldn't show up. He was hungry, of course, but nothing he couldn't handle. 

"Why do you have to take so long today?" He mumbled to himself. 

Minutes and hours passed and what he had feared the most happened. The closing time of MusicWorld. 

He had a lump on his throat. 

The owner had the keys ready to close the store. Louis had asked him if they could wait extra fifteen minutes, with the excuse that he needed to check some papers. He remembered the time Harry had arrived minutes before the closing time of the store. He was hoping that would happen again. But once again, it didn't. 

"Fifteen minutes. Sorry I can't wait longer than that" said the owner in a cold tone, turning off the lights that brightened the room. 

Louis was devastated. He hadn't gone after all. 

Megan and Cynthia watched him worried. 

"Maybe something came up and couldn't come" said the blonde girl, trying to give some sort of consolation to whatever the boy was feeling in that moment. 

"Go home. You need to rest, you haven't even had lunch" said now the brunette, with worry in her voice. 

But Louis didn't even make a sound. 

They said goodbye to him cheerfully and left. Now he was by himself and his loneliness. 'Why?' That question repeated over and over in his head. 'Why?'

It was the second Saturday that Harry did not show up in the store. Louis started to feel a terrible acidity building up in his stomach each time he thought about it. 

Third Saturday without any trace of him. Had he screwed up things, making Harry not want to talk to him again?

Fourth Saturday. Louis locked himself in the employees' restroom. 

"Is a promise not worth anything to you?" He mumbled, sitting in the cold floor of the restroom with his arms wrapped around his knees. 

Fifth Saturday. Meghan saw how depressed Louis was for the absence of the boy and she placed her hand on his shoulder to show him some support. But he pulled away quickly with an angered expression in his face. He was no longer the happy boy he was before. He was just there, expressionless staring at nothing. 

Sixth Saturday. He couldn't handle it anymore, he couldn't stand being behind the counter with a stupid fake smile and pretending that everything was okay when it wasn't. That day, immediately after finishing his shift, he took his jacket and exited the store quickly without even saying goodbye to his workmates. He walked past the parking lot and then the stores complex in front of it. 

He wasn't sure of what he was doing. He couldn't think clearly. He just knew he was letting himself act by his emotions. He walked in a fast pace. The winter's cold went skin deep into his bones. He was lost in his thoughts, but he was aware of the way he was walking. That walkway. He was going straightforward to Harry's house. He didn't have any other option, it wasn't like he could see him anywhere else or had his phone number. He let out a sarcastic chuckle when he realized what he was doing. 'The boy doesn't want to see you and you're heading towards his house. Wow Louis, you really are a genius.' But he needed an answer or he wouldn't be able to sleep at night. The place wasn't really far, so he didn't take long to arrive. Without mentioning all the thoughts that flooded his mind to keep himself entertained. 

There he was. In front of those black gates, covered by the snow. 

Why did he go?  
What was he going to say?

Once more, the adrenaline was stronger so he rang the doorbell. 

A couple seconds passed until the door finally opened. He recognized the thin and feminine figure of his mother walking to the gates connecting to the walkway.

"Louis" said the woman with panic in her tone, seeing him there, seeing him with Harry's beanie on his head. It was night and she couldn't recognize him until she got closer. 

Okay, it was worse than he had thought. Even his mother wasn't even happy to see him. The woman opened the gates and Louis went in further into the garden to talk better with her. Their figures were lightened by the streetlight. 

"Goodnight Anne" he said politely. If he had showed up to their house unexpectedly, the least he could do was be polite. "Listen" he said hesitating at first but with determination at the same time, "I know it is really weird for me to have come without previous notice. But I needed to do it. I'm not sure what happened, but I would like to know. Could I speak with Harry please?"

She covered her mouth and shook her head and her eyes were full of something that Louis couldn't figure what it was. 

"Please, it is important. I'll leave him alone after if that's what he wants" he begged. 

"No Louis, you can't." She said with pain in her words. 

He had imagined that answer but he didn't want to hear it. He really didn't. 

"That day..." His mother spoke with a lump in her throat. "It was a really foggy day" Louis looked at her confused. "The streets were covered in frost... it could've happened to anyone, you know?" 

What the hell was she talking about?

"Anne?" He asked, noticing that the woman did not look nowhere near good. 

"The brakes failed, Louis. He couldn't make it." The woman had started hyperventilating, her eyes watering. 

 

No. That couldn't be happening. Not to him. 

Louis was the one panicking now. "I don't understand". He said, looking at her. 

"Harry is dead, Louis!" She screamed, beginning to sob. 

No.

This wasn't happening. 

Those words were a horrendous blow to him. A clean and precise stab on the heart to Louis. He felt a lump on his throat. Harry. He... wasn't there anymore. 

"But... How?" He asked now, his voice cracking. 

"The Saturday" Louis felt his heart stopped beating, as if someone had ripped it off his chest and broke it to pieces. "He was heading to the Mall" the woman couldn't stop crying, "the weather was complete shit, but he didn't care. He was hit by a car when he crossed the street. He didn't even make it alive to the hospital. He's dead. My baby is dead, damn it!!!" She pulled at her hair hysterically, plopping down on her knees on the snow. "Harry, please come back!!" She sobbed. 

Saturday. Mall. The weather. He didn't care. Harry. Dead. What?

He tried to organize his thoughts, he was in a damn shock state. 

"It was my fault" he said, his voice barely making a really soft noise out his throat. 

Anne looked at him with tears in her eyes, Louis was looking at the street, with his face expressionless. 

"It was my fault" he repeated, "I made him promise he'd come back. He did keep his promise after all. If it wasn't for me, this wouldn't have happened". He mumbled, he was really shocked. "Because of me, Harry is dead". 

Those last words were the last thing to probe his mind wasn't sane. Two bitter tears streamed down both his cheeks. Louis screamed at the top of his lungs, scaring Anne. He screamed over and over, with more tears streaming down his face. He needed to take his pain away. His frustration. His guilt. He screamed to the point he thought his throat would bleed. 

"Louis!" Anne exclaimed, getting up on her feet and shook the boy from his shoulders. "Wake up Louis! It wasn't your fault!" She yelled desperately, "Listen to me, it wasn't your fault".

 

Louis stopped screaming. Maybe because Anne begged him to. Maybe because his throat was burning. But the tears continued to stream down his face. 

Anne hugged Louis tightly, he hugged back the same way. He felt stupid. He should be the one giving consolation to Harry's mother, instead of her doing it to him, hiding his face in her chest and stroking his hair gently to help him relax. 

"It wasn't your fault", she mumbled softly. "I want to make that clear, it was an accident. No one can be blamed for it". 

"B-But... I a-asked him... to promise he'd c-come back" he said, cutting off the words because he couldn't stop sobbing. 

Anne smiled with sorrow in her face, she took Louis by his shoulders to pull away and look at him into his eyes. 

"I don't care how many times I have to repeat myself, it wasn't your fault", the woman kept a small smile on her lips but you could see the pain she was going through. "I owe you an apology, I should've gone to the store and tell you about this. This wasn't the proper way for you to find out. It's just that I wasn't brave enough". She sniffed, "you more than anyone deserved to know. You were his best friend. You were his only friend, could you forgive me?" 

A small bitter laugh escaped Louis' lips. "There's nothing to forgive, Anne".

"I have no way of thanking you for what you did for him"

"I didn't do anything. He did it on his own".

Anne shook her head. "He barely spoke, Louis. Do you understand that? Yes, he made an effort to get better. But he couldn't do it on his own. He spoke more these three months than he did his whole life. He had started smiling more. None of this would've happened if he didn't meet you"

"If he hadn't met me, he would still be alive!" He exclaimed, looking away to make his best effort not to cry again and then trying to calm down when he realized he was yelling at a woman who'd just lost a son. 

"Maybe, but there's something you don't know" she said, getting the attention from the boy. "At the start of every session, his psychologist asked him how he was feeling. A routine question. He passed years ignoring it, sometimes he would shrug his shoulders as an answer or if he answered, he would say a simple 'fine'. But last time, his answer changed".

Anne paused for a few seconds. Remembering something that between all the sadness, it made her happy. 

"What did he say?" He felt as if he was being choked him by his throat with every word. It hurt. It hurt him so much. 

"He said he was happy", it was surprising how something so good could feel really depressing in that moment, Louis thought. "He had never used that word to describe how he felt. Do you know what was his answer when she asked him the reason?"

No. He didn't know. He didn't want to know. Every thing Anne said, hurt him more and more. But he needed to know. 

"I don't know"

Anne gave him a big smile, full of sadness. Her eyes watered. "He said your name."

That was the last thing Louis could handle, his heart broke in million pieces and began crying like a kid. He covered his face with his hands but it was useless, he was a complete mess. Anne reached for him and hugged him to comfort him. Like a son. She wanted him to let out all his pain until he was no longer in pain, even if it was impossible. 

"He loved you so much" she mumbled while stroking his hair. "He wouldn't want you to be upset".

To make her stop. That's all he wanted. For Harry's mom to stop saying those sweet things that felt like a stab in every part of his body. 

Who knows how much time they stayed like that. Under the cold night, making clouds of steam with their breaths. When Louis finally managed to calm down, Anne broke the embrace. 

"I'm sorry for all the drama" he said apologizing and wiping away his tears with the sleeves of his sweater. The woman shook her head. 

"You don't have to apologize."

"I think... it's time for me to leave. It's getting late." He said wearing the beanie. 

"Yes, it's getting really cold. You can come whenever you want, you're more than welcome".

"Thank you so much. I'll see you someday." He said giving her a small hug before heading to the sidewalk, beginning to walk. 

The woman watched him leave and clenched her fists hard. No, she couldn't let him go like that. 

"Louis!" She called him quickly, making him turn around and walk back a few steps. "Just one more thing. I need to know".

He furrowed his eyebrows. 

"What does it feel to hear Harry sing?"

The memories came back to Louis' mind, he bit his lip unable to hide his happiness. It was a selfish feeling. But being conscious of being the only person in the whole world to have heard that beautiful voice, made him feel special and important. 

"It's simply beautiful" he said with his eyes watering and a bunch of feelings building up in his chest. "It transmits peace. It's like... hearing the voice of an angel."

After a smile filled with melancholy from both of them, the boy continued his way. 

He wasn't heading home. He was taking the same steps he had walked with Harry. Going through a way that he wouldn't be able to repeat. During the walk, the only thoughts in his mind were the memories of that night they held hands. After a couple minutes he was back in the mall. He sat in one of the benches, in front of that huge tree that didn't have leaves anymore. It was really cold. There was no one on the street. Louis stared at the pile of dry leaves and could picture himself with Harry. He was so young. It was really unfair. He removed the beanie off his head slowly and held it on his hands, staring at it. He remembered the last time he was with Harry, without knowing it would be the last. He remembered that song. Just the thought that he wouldn't be able to hear that voice again, depressed him really bad. That deep and special voice he adored. He remembered the smile Harry gave him that day before leaving the store. The last day. 

"At least the last memory I have of you is your smile." He said, his voice cracking and staring at the beanie that he held tightly as if someone would steal it from him. "I would've liked to have an answer".

I thought that I heard you laughing  
I thought that I heard you sing  
I think I thought I saw you try...

Louis mumbled part of that song. Now more than anything, those words had a bigger meaning to him. Tears of bitterness streamed down his cheeks, falling on the beanie before Louis hugged it to his chest tightly. Holding onto the only material memory he had. 

"I'm sorry, Harry..." He said between sobs filled with pain. Only God knows how much time he was there, on that bench, on that cold night, crying quietly while he hugged that beanie. 

 

Two weeks after finding out about Harry's death, Louis quit his job. He said goodbye to his workmates and his boss. Although they all tried to convince him not to leave, they couldn't get him to make up his mind. He couldn't keep on working in that place. Living with the stupid and childish illusion that Harry would show up any moment and walk through that door, like nothing had happened. He just couldn't bear it. 

He continued studying, trying to keep his mind occupied. After a couple months he moved away to another city. 

Louis never listened to his favorite song again. He wanted to keep it in his memory, being sang by Harry and him, as much as it could be possible. 

It was the beginning of summer. High temperatures, birds chirping and wandering around, a greener grass. Anne was cleaning the whole house that day, she had finished cleaning the living room and went up the stairs. She was going to get into her room but she stopped by a white door. Six long months had passed since Harry's death. He might not have been the most talkative boy, but the house felt extremely silent without him. After all, he was always there. Gemma was still overseas, she had come to the funeral and went back. The house was really lonely and it didn't help Anne's depression. She hadn't gone back inside her son's room since his death, she didn't want to increase the pain. But she needed to be brave, she had to do it sooner or later. If she let more time pass, it would be harder for her. She reached slowly for the doorknob, opening the door. She went inside with everything necessary for cleaning. It was organized, just like Harry had left it. But the lack of cleaning had created a small amount of dust over things. Anne felt a lump on her throat, every single of Harry's belongings made her feel upset. She passed cloth over the stereo the radio, and turned on the radio, she thought that maybe music would help her calm down while she cleaned. She started cleaning the furniture, the decorations, everything that could be dirty. She brought a big box into the room, opened the closet and started putting Harry's clothes inside. No one would wear it now, so giving it away to charity would be the best option. After taking the box with clothes to the house's front door, she looked for a broom and began weeping the room. She started from the corner, dragging everything to the entrance of the room. But when she passed the broom under the bed, it ran into something. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked under the bed. It was a box so she took it out with her hands, blowing some air over the dust. She sat on the floor with the box on her lap. When she opened it, she got really surprised. 

"Oh Harry..." she mumbled nostalgic. 

They were CDs. She knew them really well, they were wrapped in the blue wrapping paper, untouched. They had never been opened. She understood right away those were his excuses to go to the mall every week. Every little box had the date written neatly on the top corner. Anne sighed and opened the one with the oldest date. She smiled when she saw a jazz CDs, Harry hated jazz. She continued unwrapping the next date, she shook her head biting her lip. It was a Pink Floyd CD, one he already had. When she unwrapped the third one, something called out her attention. A small piece of paper had fallen out of the box. Anne took it and read it, furrowing her eyebrows. The text had been carelessly made handwritten. Like it had been written quickly. 

"No..." she mumbled scared. 

She immediately grabbed the next CD with her hands, which had just started shaking. She ripped the blue paper due to how nervous she was. Another piece of paper had fallen off this one, it was a different paper to the last one but it was the same handwriting. 

"It can't be" she whimpered desperately. 

She continued opening each of the CDs in chronological order. All of them had a piece of paper inside them, all written by the same person

"No..." Her eyes watered as she started finding more notes. "Louis... Harry..." she sobbed. 

She got to the last one, the date was a week before the accident. With the really low energy she had, she ripped the paper and read the last piece of paper. 

Boxes, CDs, wrapping paper ripped into many parts, and small notes were scattered on the floor, around Anne who cried really hard, hugging herself. 

11/05/1994

"I like your name."

11/12/1994

"I like you a lot, Harry."

11/19/1994

"To be honest, sometimes I think you pick your CDs randomly."

11/26/1994 

"Today is a good day, I learned more about you."

12/03/1994

"If you want to wear that beanie every Saturday, I'm not complaining."

12/10/1994

"Guess who was upset because he thought you wouldn't come to see him."

12/17/1994

"You're really cute."

12/24/1994

"Thank you for spending my birthday with me. I love you."

12/31/1994

"You don't know how happy I am to have met you."

01/07/1995

"I like you Harry. Will you go out with me?"


End file.
